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A    HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND 


HIGH   SCHOOLS   AND   ACADEMIES 


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HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


FOR 


HIGH    SCHOOLS   AND   ACADEMIES 


BY 


KATHARINE   COMAN,  Ph.B. 

PROFESSOR   OF  ECONOMICS   IN   WELLESLEY   COLLEGE 
AND 

ELIZABETH    KIMBALL    KENDALL,  M.A. 

PROFESSOR   OF   HISTORY    IN   WELLESLEY   COLLEGE 


Wcto  gorft 
THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:   MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 
1907 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1899,  1907, 
By   the   MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  October,  1899.  Reprinted  July, 
igoo;  June,  igoi;  March,  1902;  April,  1904;  April,  1905 
New  edition,  revised,  September,  1907 


PREFACE 

In  offering  a  new  History  of  England  for  use  in  prepara- 
tory schools,  the  authors  have  borne  in  mind  the  history 
requirement  recently  adopted  by  several  leading  colleges 
and  universities.  The  proposed  full  year  course  admits  of 
something  more  than  a  narrative  of  political  events  occur- 
ring between  the  Roman  conquest  and  the  reign  of  Victoria. 
The  student  may  hope  to  get  some  comprehension  of  the 
various  factors  that  have  worked  together  to  produce  mod- 
ern Britain.  The  physical  environment  afforded  by  the 
British  Isles,  the  race  traits  of  the  peoples  that  have  occu- 
pied the  land,  the  methods  by  which  they  have  wrought  out 
industrial  prosperity,  the  measures  by  which  they  have 
attained  self-government,  all  are  essential  to  an  adequate 
understanding  of  the  growth  of  the  English  nation.  Within 
the  limits  imposed  by  text-book  dimensions  we  have  en- 
deavored to  bring  out  these  phases  of  the  national  life. 

The  part  played  in  the  history  of  the  British  Isles  by  the 
Celtic  element  in  the  population  has  been  developed  more 
fully  than  is  usual,  not  only  because  Wales,  Cornwall,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland  are  integral  parts  of  Britain,  but  because 
of  the  reflex  influence  the  long  race  contest  has  exercised 
upon  the  national  character.  The  European  wars  under- 
taken by  the  English  crown  have  been  discussed  only  so 


20.SR4.'?2 


vi  Preface 

far  as  they  affect  industrial  prosperity,  constitutional  ten- 
dencies, or  international  relations.  Colonial  enterprises, 
on  the  other  hand,  have  been  quite  fully  treated,  because 
commercial  development  is  directly  concerned. 

Keeping  in  view  the  increasing  number  of  high  school 
teachers  who  purpose  to  emancipate  their  students  from 
the  text-book  by  referring  them  to  all  available  authorities, 
we  have  furnished  with  each  chapter  a  list  of  the  best  spe- 
cial treatises. 

Two  new  cooperative  undertakings,  The  Political  History 
of  England,  in  twelve  volumes,  edited  by  Hunt  and  Poole 
(Longmans),  and  A  History  of  England,  in  six  volumes, 
edited  by  Oman  (Methuen),  will  be  found  of  value,  although 
as  yet  incomplete.  Separate  volumes  are  referred  to  un- 
der the  name  of  the  author.  F.  C.  Montague,  Elements 
of  Constitutional  History  (Longmans),  treats  of  constitu- 
tional questions  concisely  and  clearly.  Ransome,  History 
of  England  (Macmillans),  gives  much  valuable  information 
in  accessible  form.  A  few  books,  such  as  Green's  Short 
History  of  the  English  People,  Bright's  History  of  England, 
Traill's  Social  England,  Cunningham's  Outlines  of  Ejiglish 
Industrial  History,  Kendall's  Source-Book  of  English  His- 
tory, are  rendered  more  available  to  the  student  by  detailed 
marginal  references.  The  Syllabus  of  English  History  and 
the  pamphlet  on  Sources  compiled  by  the  New  England 
History  Teachers  Association  and  published  by  D.  C.  Heath 
and  Company  furnish  useful  reference  lists. 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

Physical  Characteristics  of  the  British  Isles  .        .  i 


CHAPTER   II 
Race  Elements  of  the  Engush  Nation       .        .       .        .11 

CHAFPER  III 
Foreign  Rule 56 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Fusion  of  Races 93 

CHAFFER   V 
The  Struggle  for  the  Charter 116 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Rise  of  the  Commons 148 

CHAPTER  VII 
Dynastic  Wars 187 

CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation 212 

vii 


viii  Table  of  Contents 


CHAPTER   IX 

PAGB 

England  of  the  Tudors 268 


CHAPTER  X 
The  Puritan  Revolution 285 

CHAPTER  XI 
The  Restoration  and  the  Revolution         ....    332 

CHAFl^ER   XII 
Parties  and  Party  Government 360 

CHAPTER   XIIl 
The  Struggle  for  Empire 3S9 

CHAPTER   XIV 
The  Growth  of  Democracy 420 

CHAPTER  XV 
The  Industrial  Revolution    ....        ...    467 


LIST   OF   MAPS 


CHAPTER 
I. 

II. 


III. 


IV. 


VI. 


VII. 


VIII. 


XI. 
XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 
XV. 


Physiographic  Map  of  the  British  Isles 

Industrial  Resources  of  England 

Roman  Britain  .... 

Germanic  Settlements 

Alfred's  England       .... 

Migrations  of  the  Northmen 

Race  Distribution  in  England  as  indicated  by 

Places        ..... 
England  and  Normandy  in  1065 
Dominions  of  the  House  of  Anjou    . 
London  in  the  Twelfth  Century 
Wales  in  the  Reign  of  Edward  I 
Scotland  in  the  Reign  of  Edward  I  . 
England  in  ihe  Reign  of  Edward  III 
Scotland  and  the  English  Border,  13 14 
English  Possessions  in  Prance,  1360 
France  in  1429  .... 

The  Wars  of  the  Roses     . 
Western  Europe  at  the  Accession  of  Elizabeth 
The  Spanish  Empire  in  the  Reign  of  Philip  II 
Ireland  in  the  Sixteenth  Century 
England  and  Wales  during  the  Civil  War 
Scotland  since  1603  ..... 
The  Netherlands  in  1702 
England  and  Wales,  1 660-1 81 5 
Ireland  since  the  Accession  of  the  Stuarts 
North  America  in  1750 
India,  17S4,  1804,  1834,  1857 
Europe  in  1792 
England  in  1 831 

(Distribution  of  population  and  representat 
Partition  of  Africa    . 
British  Isles  in  1891 

(Distribution  of  population.) 
The  British  Empire 
Principal  Canals 

ix 


between  pages  4  and  5 

facing  page  8 

.       27 

.       29 

.       42 

•       58 


Nan 


.  61 

.  65 

.  96 

.  105 

•  135 
.  138 
.     150 

•  154 

.     158 

.  192 

•  199 

•  255 
.  258 
.  261 

.     312 

•  322 
^gp^'ge  352 

,  362 
.     367 

''gp'^g'^  394 

^page  407 

facing  page  ^\l 

ages  422  and  423 

on.) 

facing  page  445 
behveen  pages  449  and  450 

between  pages  458  rt//(/459 
.     479 


bet'iveen  p, 


fact 


fact 
fad 


es  of 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGB 


L'ngraving  of  a  Mammoth  on  a  Portion  of  a  Tusk         .         .         .12 

Joly,  Man  before  Metals. 
Primitive  Canoe 13 

De  Worsaae,  The  Friniicval  Antiquities  of  Denmark 
Prehistoric  Weapons 15 

Evans,  Ancient  Stone  Implements. 
East  View  of  Old  Sarum       ........       16 

From  an  old  print  in  'J'lie  Gentleman''s  Magazine 
Coracle  of  the  Early  Britons  .         .         .         .         .         .         .18 

A  Roman  Galley,  showing  the  Boarding  Bridge,  etc.    ...       20 

Tablet  found  near  the  Roman  Wall 22 

Windle,  Life  in  Early  Britain. 
Multangular  Tower,  York,  the  lower  half  of  Roman  masonry  24 

Ruins  of  lona  Cathedral 32 

Macgibbon  and  Ross,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  Scotland. 
Inscription  from  a  Runic  Stone 35 

De  Worsaae,  The  Primczval  Antiquities  of  Denmark. 
Saxon  Church  at  Bradford-on-Avon 36 

Archceological  foiirnal. 
Danish  Armor 39 

De  Worsaae,  Industrial  Arts  of  Denmark. 
Viking  Ship  found  at  Gokstadt 40 

Montelius,  77/1?  Civilization  of  Siveden  in  Heathen  Times. 
Ancient  War  Canoe 43 

Miiller,  Nordiscke  Altertiimskunde. 
Anglo-Saxon  Relics  of  Gold  and  Bronze       .....       48 
Upright  Loom  from  the  Faroe  Islands  .         .         .         .         -Si 

Montelius,  7he  Civilization  of  Sweden  in  Heathen  Times. 


xii  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Glass  Vases .        .        ,        .      54 

De  Baye,  Industrial  Arts  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 

Harold  and  his  Courtiers 66 

William's  Fleet  crossing  the  Channel 68 

The  Battle  of  Hastings 68 

Flight  of  the  English 68 

The  four  above  are  from  the  Bayeux  Tapestry. 

Tower  of  London 71 

Efifigy  of  a  Norman  Knight  in  Armor 75 

Rochester  Castle "     .        .        .        '78 

Britton,  Picturesque  Antiquities  of  the  English  Cities. 
Norman  House  at  Lincoln  called  the  Jews'  House        ...       81 

Gardiner,  A  Student's  History  of  hngland. 
Side  Aisle  of  White  Chapel,  Tower  of  London     ....       84 

Clark,  MedicEval  Military  Architecture  of  England. 
Battle  Abbey,  Sussex 87 

From  an  old  print  in  The  Universal  Magazine 
Keep  Tower,  Lincoln  Castle 90 

Britton,  Picturesque  Antiquities  of  the  English  Cities. 

Seal  of  William  I 91 

Byland  Abbey.     West  End 95 

Lefroy,  Ruined  Abbeys  of  Yorkshire. 
Part  of  the  Choir  of  Canterbury  Cathedral,  in  building  1175-1184     loi 

Scott,  Mediceval  Architecture. 
A  Crusader.     The  Effigy  of  Sir  Richard  de  Whatton  ,         .         .     107 

From  an  old  print  in  77^1?  Gentlemari's  Magazine. 
Ship  of  Richard  I in 

From  the  Manuscript  of  Matthew  Paris. 
Exterior  of  the  Gild  House  of  the  York  Merchants  Company        .     112 

Lambert,  Two  Thousand  Years  of  Gild  Life. 

Seal  of  Henry  I 1 14 

Longthorpe  Manor  House,  built  about  1235  .         .         .         .124 

Hudson  Turner,  Domestic  Architecture. 
Wells  Cathedral.     West  front 125 


Illustrations  xiii 


PAGE 


Wells  Cathedral.     Dedicated  1239 130 

Conway  Castle 137 

Clark,  Mediaval  Military  Architecture  in  En:^land. 

Parliament  of  Edward  I 141 

Bothwell  Castle,  Lanarkshire 143 

Salisbury  Cathedral,  built  1220-1258 145 

Seal  of  Edward  I 146 

Genoese  Crossbowman  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .159 

The  Black  Prince.     Reclining  effigy 160 

Gardner,  Armour  in  England. 

Richard  II   ........         .       Facing  164 

Chaucer        ...........  167 

Bakers  and  Cooks,  A.D.  1338-1344.     Ms.  Bodl.  Misc.,  264  .         .  169 

Green,  Short  History  of  the  English  People. 

Wiclif 173 

Preaching  in  the  Open  Air,  A.D.  1338-1344.     Ms.  Bodl.  Misc., 

264 175 

Spinning  with  a  Distaff.     Early  14th  century.    Ms.  Roy.,  2  B.  vii  177 

Spinning  with  a  Wheel.    Early  14th  century.    Ms.  Roy.,  10  E.  iv  178 
Iron  Workers,  A.D.  1 338-1 344.     Ms.  Bodl.  Misc.,  264           .         .179 

The  four  above  are  from  Green,  Short  History  of  the  English 
People,  by  permission  of  Mrs.  Green. 
Specimen  of  Early  Cannon  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .184 

Demmin,  An  Illustrated  History  of  Arms  and  Armor. 

Ludlow  Castle      ..........  194 

Henry  VI 196 

After  the  portrait  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

Suit  of  Full  Armor.     Middle  of  fifteenth  century         .         .         .  197 

Richard  III Facing  202 

Raglan  Castle 205 

The  George  Inn,  Glastonbury       .......  208 

After  a  painting  by  G.  Arnald. 
Interior  of  King's  College  Chapel,  Cambridge      .         .         .         .210 

Atkinson  and  Clark,  Cambridge,  Described  and  Illustrated. 


xiv  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Henry  VII 214 

From  an  original  painting  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 
Chapel  of  Henry  VII,  Westminster       .         .         .         .         .         .     218 

Villars,  England. 
Henry  VIII ,     220 

From  a  painting  by  Holbein. 
The  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold 223 

From  an  engraving  after  the  painting  at  Hampton  Court. 
Christ  Church  College,  Oxford      .         .         .         .         ,         .         .     225 

The  Tithe  Barn,  Glastonbury 227 

The  Abbey  Kitchen,  Glastonbury 228 

The  Ruined  Abbey,  Glastonbury 231 

Coronation  Procession  of  Edward  VI  passing  Cheapside  Cross     ,     236 
Autograph  of  Edward  VI 240 

The  two  above  are  from  Marck,  Konigin  Elizabeth. 
Mary  Tudor 241 

From  a  painting  ascribed  to  Antonio  More. 
Elizabeth 245 

After  the  "  Ermine  Portrait "  by  Zucchero. 

Autograph  of  Elizabeth 247 

Holyrood  Palace 250 

Autograph  of  Mary  Stuart 251 

The  three  above  are  from  Marck,  K'inigin  Elizabeth. 
Stirling  Castle 253 

Winter,  Grey  Days  attd  Gold. 
Elizabeth's  Cradle 265 

Winter,  Shakespeare's  England. 
Old  London  Bridge •        .        •     270 

Marck,  Konigin  Elizabeth. 
View  in  Great  Friars'  Street,  Worcester       .        •        •        •        •     272 

Britton,  Picturesque  Antiquities. 
The  Ship  "  Henri  Grace  k  Dieu  " 275 

Cumberland,  The  Story  of  the  Union  Jack. 
Drake »        » T    *        •       '277 


Illustrations  xv 


PAGE 


Interior  of  a  Grammar  School  in  the  Sixteenth  Century        .         .     282 

Winter,  Grey  Days  and  Gold. 
Timber  House  in  the  Corn  Marl<ct,  Worcester      .         •         •         .     283 

Britton,  Picturesque  .■l>i/i(jui/ics. 

Northwest  View  of  Hatfield  House 290 

Raleigh 293 

Signature  of  Francis,  Lord  Bacon 294 

Marck,  Koiiigin  Elizabeth. 

Charles  I Facing    296 

Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford 298 

After  the  painting  by  Van  Dyck. 
William  Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 302 

From  a  portrait  engraved  for  The  Universal  Magazine. 
Hampden 305 

After  a  portrait  by  J,  Houbraken,  1740. 
Pym 307 

After  a  painting  by  Robert  Walker. 

Signature  of  Fym 3'° 

Facsimile  of  a  Letter  by  Cromwell 317 

Carisbrooke  Castle 3'^ 

Trial  of  Charles  I 3^9 

From  a  print  in  Nalson's  Report  of  (he  Trial. 

Oliver  Cromwell  . 3^5 

Seal  of  the  Commonwealth  ........     330 

The  Ship  "Naseby"  on  which  Charles  H  returned  to  England    .     2)Zi 

Cumberland,  The  Story  of  the  Union  Jack. 
The  Famous  Petition  Crown  of  Charles  H 335 

Humphreys,  Coin  Collectors'  Alanual. 

Louis  XIV 339 

Hampton  Court  from  the  River  in  the  Time  of  Charles  II      344,  345 

Law,  Hampton  Court. 

St.  John's  College,  Cambridge 350 

"  The  Cittie  of  Limerick  " 352 

O'Grady,  Pacata  Hibernia, 


xvi  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Great  Seal  of  the  Union     ........  374 

Interior  of  the  Old  House  of  Commons      .....  383 

McCarthy,  Life  of  Gladstone. 

George  III  ........        Facing  397 

William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham  .....        Facing  401 

Victoria     .........        Facing  427 

John  Bright        ..........  434 

Disraeli     .  • 440 

Gladstone  ........        Facing  451 

Joseph  Chamberlain  .........  452 

Arkwright's  Spinning  Machine  of  1769        .....  469 

Sir  Richard  Arkwright        ........  471 

Trent  and  Mersey  Canal     ........  478 

The  Rocket 480 

Smiles,  Life  of  George  Stephenson. 


A    HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND 

FOR 

HIGH    SCHOOLS   AND   ACADEMIES 


CHAPTER   I 

PHYSICAL  CHARACTERISTICS   OF  THE   BRITISH   ISLES 
Books  for  Consultation 

Strabo,  Geography,  Bk.  IV,  ch.  V. 

Alfred's  description  of  Britain,  Introduction  to  Orositts. 

Green,  Sho7-t  Geography  of  the  British  Isles. 

Cunningham,  Outlines  of  English  Industrial  History,  ch.  II. 

Cheney,  F.  P.,  Industrial  a)id  Social  History  of  England,  ch.  I, 

Ramsay,  Physical  Geology  and  Geography  of  Great  Britain. 

P"orbes  and  Ash  ford,  Our  IVaterivays. 

The  British  Isles.  —  The  home  of  the  English  people 
is  a  group  of  islands,  some  five  thousand  in  number,  lying 
off  the  west  coast  of  Europe.  They  look  on  the  map  like 
icebergs  floating  away  from  a  huge  old  glacier.  Most  of 
them  are  mere  ledges  of  rock,  lifting  a  few  acres  of  grass- 
land beyond  reach  of  the  waves.  Some  are  so  bare  that 
they  only  serve  as  haunts  for  sea-birds,  many  are  pictur- 
esque and  romantic,^  but  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  alone 
are  of  sufficient  size  to  play  any  considerable  part  in  the 
national  history.  The  area  of  the  British  Isles  is  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  square  miles,  about  ^\^  part  of 
the  land  surface  of  the  globe.  In  extent  they  are  somewhat 
larger  than  New  England,  somewhat  less  than  Japan.  This 
seems  too  small  a  country  to  exercise  a  great  influence  in 
the  world,  yet  the  English  government  controls  to-day  nearly 
one-fourth  of  the  earth's  area.  The  population  of  the  Brit- 
ish Empire  is  ten  times  that  of  the  British  Isles.  Twenti- 
eth-century Englishmen  boast,  and  with  good  reason, 
that  the  sun  never  sets  on  his  Majesty's  dominions.      How 

1  Staffa  and  lona,  Holy  Isle,  and  the  Isle  of  Wight  have  furnished  refuge 
to  persecuted  saints  and  kings. 

U  '  I 


2       Physical  Characteristics  of  the  British  Isles 

can  we  account  for  this  extraordinary  national  development? 
Much  is  doubtless  due  to  certain  inherent  qualities  in  the 
English  people,  but  much  is  the  result  of  environment.  We 
must  ascertain,  first  of  all,  what  in  the  physical  make-up  of 
the  British  Isles  has  contributed  to  the  success  of  the  Eng- 
lish race. 

Relation  to  Europe.  —  The  most  apparent  fact  regarding 
these  islands  is  that  they  lie  within  easy  reach  of  Europe. 
The  intervening  body  of  water  is  nowhere  of  great  depth, 
—  three  hundred  feet  in  the  English  Channel  and  seventy 
feet  in  the  North  Sea,  —  while  at  the  Straits  of  Dover  the 
crossing  is  but  twenty  miles.  The  British  Isles,  geologists 
tell  us,  were  originally  part  of  the  Continent.  What  is  now 
the  bed  of  the  North  Sea  was  once  low-lying  plain,  over 
which  animals  now  extinct  and  prehistoric  men  made  their 
way.  At  no  time  has  communication  been  impossible,  but 
it  is  always  attended  by  hazard.  The  rudest  boat  can  cross 
the  Channel  in  calm  weather  without  harm,  but  these  are 
tempestuous  seas,  and  such  storms  may  rise  as  put  a  man- 
of-war  in  peril.  Several  times  in  Enghsh  history  this  "  ocean 
wall"  has  been  an  effective  defence  against  attack.  The 
great  Spanish  Armada  was  dashed  in  pieces  on  the  Irish 
coast,  and  the  all-conquering  Napoleon  failed  to  effect  an 
invasion  of  England.  In  the  early  centuries  of  its  history, 
Britain  was  frequently  overrun  and  subjugated  by  continental 
peoples,  but  the  Norman  conquerors  may  be  said  to  have 
announced  England's  Monroe  doctrine  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury. Thenceforward  the  British  Isles  were  not  open  to 
colonization. 

Accessible  from  the  Continent,  yet  easily  independent  of 
it,  the  Enghsh  have  enjoyed  the  rare  privilege  of  a  free 
and  natural  race  development.  Unhampered  by  foreign 
interference,  they  have  dealt  with  the  several  problems  of 
political,  social,  and  rehgious  hfe  under  conditions  com- 
paratively simple,  and  have  arrived  at  results  which,  though 
not  perhaps  ideal  or  of  universal  application,  are  at  least 
admirably  suited  to  the  national  character.     On  the  other 


Commercial  Advantages  3 

hand,  this  isolation  has  not  been  such  as  to  prevent  Eng- 
land from  sharing  in  every  vital  impulse  that  has  stirred 
the  Continent.  The  Crusades,  the  Renaissance,  the  Ref- 
ormation, the  French  Revolution,  each  in  .turn  has  deeply 
influenced  English  life  and  roused  the  English  race  to 
nobler  achievement. 

Commercial  Advantages.  —  A  no  less  important  conse- 
quence of  its  insularity  is  the  maritime  greatness  of  the 
English  nation.  An  island  people  takes  naturally  to  ships, 
since  they  must  venture  across  the  sea  in  search  of  all  that 
their  narrow  land  does  not  provide.  Great  Britain  is  pecul- 
iarly fitted  to  foster  a  race  of  mariners.  Her  firths,  estu- 
aries, and  river  mouths  form  natural  harbors,  and  her 
commercial  opportunities  are  great.  On  the  east  coast, 
facing  France,  Flanders,  and  Holland,  is  a  series  of  sea- 
ports in  direct  communication  with  these  rich  and  populous 
regions  of  the  Continent.  The  western  harbors,  formed  by 
the  Clyde,  the  Mersey,  and  the  Severn,  look  toward  Ireland 
and  America.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  Venice  was  the 
business  centre  of  the  Occident,  and  London  but  a  re- 
mote trading  post  lying  near  the  edge  of  the  world  ;  but  the  Discovery  ol 
discovery  of  America  has  opened  up  industrial  resources  America, 
hitherto  undreamed  of  and  revolutionized  commerce.  Lon- 
don proves  to  be  at  the  centre  of  the  land  surface  of  the 
globe,  and  England  Hes  in  the  direct  highway  of  modern 
trade. 

Britain's  commercial  advantages  are  rendered  more  valu-  Forbes  and 
able  by  her  unusual  facilities  for  internal  communication.  No  ^j^'^j^°'"*^'  *^^' 
part  of  the  country  is  more  than  one  hundred  miles  from 
the  coast,  while  waterways,  natural  and  artificial,  give  access 
to  the  remotest  regions.  England  boasts  six  navigable  rivers, 
the  Tyne,  the  Yorkshire  Ouse,  the  Humber,  the  Mersey,  the 
Thames,  and  the  Severn.  These  reach  far  into  the  heart  of 
the  land.  Toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  cross- 
country navigation  was  provided  by  a  system  of  canals.  Ships 
may  pass  across  Scotland  from  the  North  to  the  Irish  Sea 
by  the   Forth  and  Clyde  Canal,  while   Ireland's  principal 


stream. 


4       Physical  Characteristics  of  the  British  Isles 

river,  the  Shannon,  is  navigable  nearly  to  its  source  and 
is  connected  by  artificial  channels  with  the  principal  ports. 
To-day  the  railroad  has  almost  superseded  water  traffic,  but 
the  rivers  of  Britain,  the  "  roads  that  run,"  have  served  an 
important  part  in  promoting  her  commercial  greatness. 

Physical  Endowment.  —  This  wave-washed  realm  is  blessed 
by  a  most  fortunate  chmate.  An  island  climate  is  usually 
moist  and  equable,  but  the  British  Isles  are  peculiarly  favored 
in  that  they  lie  directly  in  the  path  of  the  Gulf  Stream. 
The  Gulf  The  great  ocean  current  is  a  veritable  godsend  to  Britain. 
Bearing  upon  its  bosom  the  atmosphere  of  a  subtropical 
sea,  it  beats  against  the  western  coasts,  bringing  to  a  country 
of  the  latitude  of  Labrador  the  climate  of  Virginia.  Dublin 
has  the  mean  temperature  of  Savannah,  though  two  thousand 
miles  farther  from  the  equator.  The  Gulf  Stream,  more- 
over, brings  to  this  lucky  land  not  merely  heat,  but  moisture. 
The  warm  west  winds  break  on  the  mountainous  coasts  of 
Ireland,  Wales,  and  Scotland,  and  discharge  abundant  sup- 
plies of  rain.  In  Galway  the  average  annual  rainfall  amounts 
to  seven  feet.  The  rainfall  of  England  is,  however,  not  half 
so  heavy.  The  influence  of  a  warm,  moist  climate  not  only 
upon  the  occupations  but  upon  the  habit  and  thought  of 
the  people,  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The  humidity 
insures  the  farmer  against  drought,  while  in  the  textile  in- 
dustries, notably  in  cotton  spinning,  it  gives  the  manu- 
facturer a  distinct  advantage.  The  winters  are  rarely  so 
severe  as  to  interfere  with  field-work  or  transportation,  while 
the  wholesome,  bracing  air  stimulates  to  exertion. 

Industrial  Wealth.  —  In  natural  resources  the  English 
race  is  well  endowed.  The  mineral  deposits  of  the  British 
Isles  are  rich  and  of  great  variety,  and  so  placed  as  to 
be  readily  accessible.  Long  before  the  English  came  to 
Britain,  tin,  lead,  copper,  and  possibly  gold  were  extracted 
in  rude  fashion  from  the  rocks  of  Cornwall,  Wales,  Derby,  and 
the  Mendip  Hills.  In  the  eighteenth  century  rich  deposits  of 
coal  and  iron,  lead  and  zinc,  were  opened  up  and  have  been 
worked  with  such  success  that  Britain   is  now   one   of  the 


Political  Divisions  correspond  to  Industrial       $ 

most  productive  mining  countries  in  the  world.  Rarely 
does  a  country  combine  such  mineral  wealth  with  so  fertile 
a  soil  as  that  of  the  British  Isles.  Wales  and  Scotland,  to 
be  sure,  can  boast  only  a  scanty  agricultural  opportunity,  but 
there  are  nowhere  more  fruitful  regions  than  the  pasture 
lands  of  Ireland  and  the  gardens  and  wheat  fields  of  eastern 
and  southern  England.  Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  the 
soil  of  Britain  fed  her  own  people,  and  furnished  consider- 
able quantities  of  grain,  cattle,  and  wool  to  foreign  lands. 
To-day,  however,  her  population^  has  outstripped  the  food- 
bearing  capacity  of  her  fields,  and  Britain  is  obliged  to  look 
to  Australia  and  America  for  supplies. 

Twentieth  century  Britain  is  the  richest  country  in  the  Old 
World.  Her  present  wealth  is  estimated  at  $75,000,000,000, 
or  about  $1802  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
United  Kingdom.  The  wealth  of  the  United  States  is  reck- 
oned at  $94,300,000,000,  but  our  average  per  capita  wealth 
is  less,  $1235  in  1900.  The  wealth-producing  facilities  of 
Britain  enable  her  to  support  a  dense  population.  Saxony 
and  Belgium  alone  of  European  countries  are  more  thickly 
inhabited.  This  surpassing  prosperity  has  a  double  source. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  of  two  cooperating  causes 
has  been  more  influential  —  Britain's  exceptional  advantages 
of  situation,  soil  and  mineral  wealth,  or  the  pronounced  in- 
dustrial genius  of  her  people. 

Political  Divisions  correspond  to  Industrial.  —  The  four 
political  divisions  of  the  United  Kingdom  were  originally 
independent,  and  though  they  have  been  under  one  govern- 


POPULATION  OF  ENG- 

INHABITANTS 

POPULATION  OF  ENG- 

INHABITANT 

LAND  AND  WALES 

PER  SQ.  M. 

LAND  AND  WALES 

PER  SQ.  M. 

1086      1,375,000 

37 

182I 

12,090,000 

207 

I38I       2,360,000 

41 

183I 

14,001,000 

241 

1528       4,356,000 

75 

I84I 

16,038,000 

275 

1672      5,500,000 

96 

1851 

18,071,000 

310 

17 12      6,280,000 

no 

I86I 

20,209,000 

347 

1754      7,020,000 

120 

1871 

22,857,000 

391 

1780      8,080,000 

140 

I88I 

26,109,000 

443 

I80I       8,893,000 

15s 

I89I 

29,001.000 

498 

I8II      10,164,000 

175 

I9OI 

32,526,000 

558 

6       PJivsical  Characteristics  of  the  British  Isles 

ment  for  centuries,  each  still  preserves  a  marked  individual- 
ity. We  can  account  for  this  dissimilarity  in  some  measure 
by  race  inheritance,  since  the  English  are  Teutons  by  origin, 
while  the  Irish,  Welsh,  and  Scots  are  Celts  ;  but  even  more 
is  due  to  the  modifying  influence  of  physical  conditions. 
Ireland,  Wales,  and  Scotland  have  been  shabbily  dealt  with 
by  Dame  Nature,  while  England  has  fallen  heir  to  her 
richest  bounties.  For  example,  England  has  the  advantage 
of  situation  as  regards  Europe.  The  mountains  of  Great 
Britain  are  piled  up  in  the  north  and  west.  Scotland,  West- 
moreland, Wales,  and  Cornwall  are  bleak  masses  of  rock 
and  moor.  From  these  barren  heights  the  rich  plains  of 
England  slope  eastward  to  the  Channel  and  the  North  Sea. 
Her  water-courses  cross  the  country  from  west  to  east,  form- 
ing natural  highways  for  commerce.  Four  of  her  rivers,  the 
Tyne,  the  Tees,  the  Humber,  and  the  Thames,  give  direct 
access  to  the  Channel  trade.  Their  harbors  stand  like  so 
many  open  doors,  inviting  the  products,  the  men,  the  ideas, 
of  Europe.  England  may  be  said  to  turn  her  back  on 
Ireland  and  to  face  the  Continent.  She  is  indeed  the 
favored  sister.  The  west  winds  come  to  her  with  warmth 
and  moisture,  but  not  till  excess  of  rain  has  been  precipi- 
tated on  the  rugged  heights  of  the  Welsh  mountains.  The 
Channel  fogs,  it  is  true,  invade  the  low  districts  of  the  eastern 
coast,  but  they  have  this  virtue,  at  least,-  that  they  moderate 
the  temperature  both  summer  and  winter. 

England.  —  Industrially,  England  is  divided  into  two  dis- 
tinct parts.  A  line  drawn  from  the  estuary  of  the  Humber 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Severn  would  approximately  represent 
the  division.  Southeast  of  the  line  lies  agricultural  England. 
The  rich  lime  soil  and  the  gentle  rivers  of  this  region  make 
it  one  of  the  most  productive  in  the  world.  No  more  fertile 
fields  gladden  the  heart  of  man  than  those  of  the  Fen  country 
and  the  Thames  valley,  while  the  Chiltern  Hills,  the  North 
and  South  Downs,  and  the  Cotswold  Hills  nourish  famous 
breeds  of  sheep.  Northwest  of  our  imaginary  line  is  the 
mineral  wealth  of  England.     Here  lie  the  great  coal  fields 


Wa/cs  7 

of  Northumberland,  Durham,  Yorkshire,  Derby,  Stafford, 
Leicester,  Warwick,  and  Lancashire.  They  are  1650  square 
miles  in  extent,  and  constitute  the  mainspring  of  England's 
manufacturing  industries.  In  the  midst  of  this  immense  coal 
area  rises  the  Pennine  chain,  a  range  of  mountain  and  moor- 
land which  thrusts  itself  like  a  great  wedge  two  hundred  miles 
into  the  heart  of  England.  It  is  an  axis  of  carboniferous 
rock,  and  along  its  barren  slopes  lie  rich  mineral  deposits, 
iron,  zinc,  and  lead.  This  remarkable  combination  of  fuel 
with  mineral  resources  has  attracted  to  the  region  the  capi- 
tal and  labor  force  of  England.  Here  are  the  populous  min- 
ing districts.  Here  lie  the  great  manufacturing  towns  of 
Leeds,  Nottingham,  Sheffield,  Birmingham,  and  Manchester. 
The  centres  of  wealth  and  population  were  originally  in  the 
agriculture  regions  of  the  south,  but  the  opening  of  the  coal 
measures  has  reversed  conditions,  and  the  densely  populated 
counties  lie  to-day  north  of  the  Trent.^ 

The  Pennine  district  affords,  however,  but  a  fraction  of 
the  mineral  wealth  of  England.  The  rocky  promontory  of 
Cornwall  bears  rich  veins  of  copper,  lead,  tin,  and  clay,  and 
supports  a  large  mining  population.  Many  lesser  resources 
contribute  their  quota  to  England's  prosperity.  In  Cheshire, 
along  the  valley  of  the  Weaver,  lie  large  deposits  of  salt. 
They  have  been  known  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  but  have 
only  in  modern  times  been  extensively  worked.  In  addition 
to  its  coal  measures,  Staffordshire  once  possessed  a  fine  clay 
admirably  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  earthenware.  Here 
Wedgwood  and  many  lesser  craftsmen  have  practised  the 
potter's  art.  The  remarkable  success  of  the  industry  has 
won  for  this  district  the  name  of  "the  Potteries." 

Wales.  —  If  now  we  turn  from  merry  England  to  the  little 
principality  of  Wales,  we  find  a  marked  contrast.  It  is  a 
rugged,    mountainous    country,    picturesque    and   romantic 

1  Compare  the  density  of  population  in  an  agricultural  county  {£.£■.  Berk- 
shire, 253  to  the  square  mile)  with  that  of  a  mining  county  (e.^.  Durham, 
832  to  the  square  mile)  or  with  that  of  a  manufacturing  county  {e.g.  Lan- 
cashire, 1069  to  the  square  mile). 


8      Physical  C/iaractcristics  of  the  British  Isles 

enough,  beloved  of  the  tourist,  but  scantily  endowed  with 
industrial  resources.  The  massive  range  of  peaks  from 
Snowdon  to  Brecknock  Beacon  is  usually  enveloped  in  mist 
and  rain,  and  affords  meagre  opportunity  for  pasture  or 
tillage.^  A  circumscribed  agricultural  district  lies  along  the 
north  coast  in  the  valleys  of  the  Conway  and  the  Clyde,  but 
the  best  industrial  opportunity  of  Wales  is  in  the  slate  quar- 
ries of  the  Cambrian  range  and  the  coal  mines  of  the  south. 
The  coal  fields  of  Wales  are  nearly  equal  in  extent  to  those 
of  England.  That  of  the  Black  Mountains  is  nine  hundred 
square  miles  in  area  and  ten  thousand  feet  in  depth.  This 
has  become  the  centre  of  the  smelting  industry,  A  dense 
population  is  gathered  in  a  series  of  smoky  towns,  Swansea, 
Cardiff,  Merthyr-Tydfil,  and  Aberdare.  From  Cornwall,  from 
France,  from  North  and  South  America,  from  Australia,  large 
quantities  of  metal  are  brought  to  the  foundries  of  South 
Wales.  But  this  prosperity  is  offset  by  the  poverty  of  vast 
mountain  wastes.  Wales  as  a  whole  supports  but  a  sparse 
population.  Her  area  is  one-seventh  that  of  England  while 
her  population  is  but  one-eighteenth  as  large. 

Scotland.  —  In  physical  make-up  Scotland  is  quite  com- 
parable to  Wales.  It  looks  but  a  jagged  mass  of  rock  from 
which  broken  bits,  the  Shetlands,  the  Orkneys,  the  Hebrides, 
Skye,  Mull,  Arran,  are  crumbling  off  into  the  sea.  The 
country  is  divided  into  three  districts  distinguished  from 
one  another  by  marked  physical  features.  First  of  these 
is  the  picturesque  northern  section,  the  Highlands,  the  land 
of  shootings  and  salmon  rivers.  It  contains  two-thirds  of 
Scotland's  territory,  but  little  of  her  material  wealth.  Fish- 
ing and  sheep-raising  are  the  principal  employments.  The 
Lowland  Plain  is  a  long  narrow  valley,  which  may  once  have 
been  a  strait,  running  across  the  country  from  east  to 
west,  from  the  Firth  of  Forth  to  the  Firth  of  Clyde.  This 
region  contains  the  mineral  wealth  of  Scotland.  Here  are 
rich   deposits  of  coal   and  iron  which    sustain   flourishing 

1  Agricultural  land  amounts  to  76  %  of  the  total  area  in  England,  59%  in 
Wales,  25%  in  Scotland,  23%  in  Ireland. 


INDUSTRIAL  RESOURCES  OF. 

EXGLAXD 


4  West  3       Longitude 


from  1  Greenwich       0  East  1 


Ireland  9 

manufactures.  Here,  too,  are  Scotland's  harbors  and,  hence, 
her  commercial  opportunity.  The  population  of  this  favored 
region  is  more  than  half  that  of  all  Scotland.  The  third 
division  is  that  of  the  Lowland  Hills,  Scotland's  natural 
barrier  against  invasion  from  England,  the  "Border"  of  the 
ballads  and  historical  romance.  These  are  monotonous 
moorlands.  They  lack  the  picturesque  beauty  of  the  High- 
lands and  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Plain,  and  are  good  for 
little  but  sheep  pasture.  The  Tweed  valley  is  a  more  pros- 
perous region ;  verging  on  the  coal  districts  of  England,  it 
shares  their  prosperity. 

Ireland.  —  Of  the  physical  sources  of  national  well-being, 
Ireland  has  but  a  niggardly  portion.  The  island  is  shaped 
like  a  saucer.  Along  the  coasts,  north,  west,  and  south,  runs 
a  ring  of  low  mountain  ranges.  In  the  east  alone  are  there 
considerable  stretches  of  sandy  shore,  and  even  here,  the 
coast  line  is  broken  by  two  mountain  masses,  the  Mourne 
and  the  Wicklow  Hills.  The  interior  is  an  undulating  plain 
with  hardly  sufficient  slope  to  afford  watershed  to  the  slug- 
gish rivers.'  The  soil  has  a  limestone  foundation,  and  is  as 
fertile  as  that  of  England,  but  it  is  too  wet  for  successful 
agriculture  and  is  given  over,  in  great  part,  to  cattle  pas- 
ture. Numerous  lakes  and  tracts  of  bog-land  lie  across  the 
heart  of  the  country  and  reduce  its  tillable  area.  Ireland 
gets  the  first  effect  of  the  warm  winds  from  the  Atlantic,  and 
the  rainfall  is  excessive.  The  number  of  rainy  days  in  the 
year  averages  two  hundred  and  eight.  The  climate  is  in 
consequence  warm,  damp,  and  debilitating.  Moreover,  the 
mineral  resources  of  the  country  are  scant.  The  immense 
coal  measures  that  originally  covered  its  surface  were  carried 
away  ages  ago  by  glacial  action.  Isolated  fragments  of  the 
once  abundant  store  are  found  in  the  hills,  but  the  output  of 
the  mines  is  quite  inadequate  to  the  industrial  needs  of  the 
country.  Ireland  possesses  some  iron  deposits,  but  they 
cannot  be  worked  to  advantage  because  fuel  is  lacking.     The 

1  The  surface  of  Ireland  is  72%  arable  land,  12%  bog  and  marsh,  11% 
barren  mountain,  4  %  water,  i  %  forest. 


lO     Physical  Characteristics  of  the  British  Isles 

mountains  contain  other  minerals,  copper,  gold,  silver,  and 
lead,  and  these  have  been  mined  at  different  epochs  in  Irish 
history ;  but  the  ores  are  nowhere  so  rich  as  those  of  the 
Pennine  and  Cornish  districts,  and  the  mining  industries  are 
to-day  actually  declining. 

The  fates  seem  to  have  conspired  against  Ireland.  Her 
rivers  rarely  afford  water  power  sufficient  for  manufactures. 
Her  natural  harbors  lie  to  the  west  and  north,  remote  from 
European  trade.  One  first-rate  harbor  lies  on  the  south  coast 
and  has  become  important  since  the  steamship  lines  running 
from  Liverpool  to  America  make  Queenstown  a  calling  sta- 
tion. England  stands  between  Ireland  and  the  Continent. 
She  can  control  and  has  successfully  stifled  the  trade  ven- 
tures of  the  weaker  country.  Deprived  of  commercial  and 
industrial  opportunities,  the  Irish  people  are  restricted  to 
agriculture.  The  population  is  distributed  over  the  land  in 
villages  and  scattered  hamlets.  There  are  but  six  towns  of 
more  than  20,000  inhabitants, —  Dublin,  Belfast,  Cork,  Lim- 
erick, Londonderry,  and  Waterford.  These,  it  will  be  no- 
ticed, are  all  on  the  seacoast  and  owe  their  importance  to 
some  commercial  advantage.  In  northern  Ireland  condi- 
tions are  more  favorable.  The  climate  is  bracing,  the  juxta- 
position of  two  such  harbors  as  Belfast  and  Glasgow  promotes 
commerce,  while  ready  access  to  the  Scotch  coal  district  ren- 
ders manufacture  profitable.  The  poverty  of  Ireland  may  be 
partly  accounted  for  by  misgovernment.  but  it  is  mainly  due 
to  lack  of  material  resources. 

Industrial  Opportunity  and  Population.  —  The  compara- 
tive prosperity  of  the  political  divisions  of  Britain  is  clearly 
indicated  by  the  movement  of  population.^  Scotland  has 
always  been  sparsely  settled.  The  population  of  Ireland  is 
actually  decreasing,  while  that  of  England  and  Wales  has 
rapidly  increased  since  the  opening  up  of  their  mineral  re- 
sources. 

1  Comparative  densities,  1901 :  Scotland,  150  inhabitants  to  square  mile ; 
Ireland,  137;  Wales,  195;  England,  437  ;  Saxony,  743. 


CHAPTER    II 

RACE   ELEMENTS   OF  THE   ENGLISH   NATION 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 

Cc-esar,  Commentaries,  Bk.  IV,  ch.  XX-XXXVIII;   Bk.  V,  ch.  VIII- 

XXII. 
Tacitus,  Agricola,  Sec.  VII-XXIII. 
Tacitus,    Germania,  Sec.   V,  VII,  XI,  XII,  XIII,  XIV,  XVI,  XXI, 

XXV,  XXVI. 
Bowker,  Alfred  the  Great. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle. 
Asser's  Life  of  Alfred. 
Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Special  Authorities 

Windle,  Early  Man  in  Britain. 

W.  B.  Dawkins,  Early  Man  in  Britain. 

F.  Seebohm,  77^.?  Tribal  System  in  Wales. 

Mommsen,  Roman  Provinces,  Vol.  I,  Bk.  VIII,  ch.  V. 

Forbes  and  Burmester,  Our  Roman  Highivays. 

Coste,  Romans  of  Britain. 

Worsaae,  Danes  and  Northmen  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland. 

Ripley,  77/1?  Races  of  Europe,  ch.  XII. 

Oman,  C.  W.  C,  England,  from  the  Beginning  to  1066. 

Hodgkin,  T.,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  I. 

Imaginative  Literature 
Lanier,  The  Boy's  King  Arthur. 

The  Aborigines  or  Paleolithic  Men.  — Of  the  first  inhabit- 
ants of  the  British  Isles  we  know  Httle  with  certainty.  They 
belong  to  prehistoric  time  and  have  left  no  record  of  their 
existence  save  rude  weapons  chipped  from  flint  or  stone,  or- 
naments of  bone  or  ivory  decorated  with  figures  of  animals, 

II 


12 


Race  Elcnic7its  of  the  English  Nation 


and  the  heaps  of  refuse  that  htter  the  caves  where  they 
found  shelter.  Their  life  was  little  superior  to  that  of  the 
wild  beasts  with  whom  they  contended  for  possession  of 
cavern  or  watering-place.  They  did  not  know  apparently 
how  to  till  the  ground  or  to  tame  the  animals  that  might 
be  made  of  use.  For  subsistence  they  relied  on  natural 
products.  Fruits,  nuts,  and  roots  found  in  the  forest,  and 
the  flesh  of  animals  taken  in  the  chase,  furnished  ample 
food.  They  had  learned  how  to  strike  fire,  probably  by 
rubbing  together  sticks  of  hard  dry  wood,  and  to  roast  meat 


Engraving  of  a  Mammoth  on  a  Portion  of  a  Tusk 

Joly,  Man  before  Metah 


between  heated  stones.  The  men  doubtless  exerted  their 
strength  and  ingenuity  in  hunting  and  fishing,  and  in  mak- 
ing arrows  and  spears  and  harpoons.  The  women  cleaned 
the  skins  and  fashioned  them  into  clothing,  catching  the 
pieces  together  with  bone  awls  and  reindeer  sinew.  This 
is  the  most  primitive  stage  of  human  development.  We 
have  something  comparable  to  it  to-day  in  the  life  of  an 
Esquimaux  village,  but  the  men  of  the  old  stone  age  have 
no  descendants  in  modern  Britain. 

The  Neoliths.  —  The  cave-dwellers  were  followed  by  a 
race  of  men,  prehistoric  also  in  origin,  but  far  more  ad- 


The  Celts  13 

vanced  in  the  art  of  living.  They  provided  themselves 
shelter  by  building  hovels  of  earth  roofed  in  with  branches, 
and  they  secured  a  surer  food  supply  than  nature  afforded 
by  burning  a  clear  space  in  the  forest  and  planting  it  with 
grain.  Certain  useful  animals,  such  as  dogs,  horses,  oxen, 
sheep,  goats,  and  swine,  were  domesticated  and  held  as  per- 
sonal property.  Rough  linen  cloth  was  manufactured  by  the 
women,  who  spun  with  spindle  and  distaff  and  wove  on 
primitive  looms.  ^Vheat  was  ground  with  pestle  and  mor- 
tar, and  made  into  a  coarse  bread.  The  many  specimens 
of  earthenware  that  have  been  preserved  from  this  era 
prove  that  the  Neoliths  had  attained  considerable  skill  in 
the  potter's  art.     Their  arrow-heads,  knives,  and  axes  show 


Primitive  Canoe 

a  distinct  advance  on  the  work  of  the  cave  men.  These 
were  still  chipped  from  stone  or  flint,  but  so  shaped  and 
polished  as  to  be  far  more  effective.  The  forests  were  trav- 
ersed by  paths  like  Indian  trails,  connecting  the  settlements 
and  leading  to  the  water.  Doubdess  some  traffic  was  car- 
ried on  along  the  rivers  and  even  across  the  sea.  The  ad- 
venturous merchant  transported  his  wares  in  a  canoe  hollowed 
out  of  a  tree  trunk  or  shaped  of  wicker-work  and  covered 
with  hides.  Tlie  Iberians,  or  neolithic  men,  were  a  small 
dark  people,  thick-set  and  beetle  browed.  They  burned 
their  dead  in  stone  chambers  or  cromlechs  covered  with 
earth.  The  egg-shaped  mounds  or  "  long  barrows  "  of  the 
Cotswold  Hills  were  built  by  these  prehistoric  men. 

The  Celts.  —  Seven  or  eight  centuries  before  the  Christian  Tmiii,  i, 
era,  a  new  people  made  its  way  across  the  sea  to  these  west-  PP-  ^'^^ 
ern  islands.     They  buried  their  dead  in  funeral  urns  placed 


14 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 


Seebohm, 
pp.  54-60. 


The  tribal 
system. 


Seebohm, 
pp.  82-100. 


under  "round  barrows"  such  as  encircle  the  druid  stones  at 
Stone henge.  The  Celts  were  tall,  fair-haired  and  valiant,  and 
well  advanced  in  the  arts.  They  had  learned  to  fuse  copper 
and  tin,  and  to  manufacture  weapons  of  bronze.  This  supe- 
riority enabled  them  readily  to  overmaster  the  Iberians,  who 
fought  with  flint  arrows  or  axes  of  stone.  Many  of  these 
unfortunates  doubtless  perished  in  the  struggle,  but  more 
were  reduced  to  slavery  and  forced  to  till  the  soil  for  the 
victors.  The  distinction  between  conquerors  and  conquered, 
free  and  unfree,  was  jealously  maintained,  and  the  subject 
race,  excluded  from  kinship  with  the  Celts,  remained  short, 
dark-skinned,  and  servile  for  centuries  to  come.  A  remnant 
took  refuge  in  the  wild  hill  country  of  the  west  and  north, 
and  their  swarthy  descendants  may  still  be  seen  in  the 
Scotch  Highlands,  in  the  Welsh  mountains,  and  on  the 
barren  Atlantic  coast  of  Ireland. 

When  history  first  takes  note  of  the  Celts,  they  had 
reached  the  pastoral  stage  of  development.  Their  wealth 
was  in  herds  of  cattle,  and  they  moved  from  one  part  of 
the  country  to  another  in  search  of  grazing  lands.  The  for- 
ests could  now  be  felled  for  sowing,  since  the  bronze  axes 
gave  a  cutting  edge,  but  agriculture  was  still  of  the  simplest. 
Little  labor  would  be  spent  in  improving  fields  that  might  at 
any  time  be  abandoned  in  pursuit  of  pasture.  The  country 
was  held  by  numerous  tribes,  each  united  by  the  bond  of 
blood-relationship,  and  each  recognizing  in  the  head  of  kin- 
dred a  chief  or  king.  The  government  was  patriarchal,  im- 
mediate obedience  being  due  to  the  head  of  the  household, 
who  was  responsible  to  the  chief  for  the  good  conduct  of  his 
family.  The  free  tribes-man  dwelt  with  his  children,  grand- 
children, and  great-grandchildren  in  a  rude  hut  built  of  wat- 
tled boughs,  where  all  ate  and  slept  together  around  the 
ancestral  hearth.  The  household  wealth  consisted  in  cattle, 
weapons,  house  and  field  implements,  and  cloth  woven  now 
of  wool  as  well  as  of  flax.  Private  property  in  land  was  not 
yet  recognized.  The  district  that  the  tribe  occupied  and 
defended  against  all  men  not  of  the  kin,  was  a   common 


Prehistoric  Weapons 

Evans,  A  ncient  Stone  Impletnents 
A,  Flint  implement  from   Kent's  Cavern  (face,         C,   Stone   celt   in   original    wooden   handle 

side,  and  section)  (Paleolithic)  (Neolithic) 

S,  Flint  arrow-head  in  original  shaft  (Neolithic)         D,  Bronze  axe  and  handle  (Celtic) 


1 6         Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 


Seebohm, 
pp.  101-105. 


possession.  Every  tribes-man  had  a  right  to  pasture  his 
cattle  in  the  meadows,  to  hunt  in  the  forest,  and  to  each 
family  was  assigned  a  certain  portion  of  the  arable  land.  Blood 
relationship  had  far  more  significance  then  than  now.  The 
men  of  a  household  were  not  only  held  responsible  for  the 
wrong-doing  of  every  member,  they  were  bound  to  avenge 
each  other's  wrongs.  The  injury  done  to  an  individual  was 
an  offence  against  his  family,  to  be  retaliated  by  the  united 
effort  of  his  clan.  Such  blood-feuds  led  to  endless  strife, 
and  the  intertribal  contests  to  which  they  gave  rise  kept  the 


JAdtpn  ttU.a^t 


East  View  of  Old  Sarum 

From  an  old  print  in  The  Gentleman's  Magazine 


land  in  a  chronic  state  of  war.  Great  earthworks  and  lines 
of  fortification  may  still  be  traced  that  were  thrown  up  by 
these  primitive  people. 

The  first  intercourse  between  Britain  and  the  Continent 
may  antedate  the  Celts.  The  Phoenicians,  the  most  dar- 
ing seafarers  of  the  ancient  world,  pushed  their  commercial 
ventures  west  along  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  and  out 
into  the  unknown  sea  as  far  as  the  Cassiterides.  They 
found  there  an  abundance  of  the  rare  metal,  tin,  then 
greatly  in  demand  for  the  manufacture  of  bronze,  and  a 
flourishing  trade  developed.     By  many  historians,  the  Cas- 


Intc7xoiirse  between  Britain  and  the  Continent     ij 

siterides  have  been  identified  witli  St.  Michael's  Mount  and 
the  adjoining  Cornish  coast,  but  this  assumption  is  far  from 
proved. 

The  first  European  who  visited  Britain  and  left  a  written 
account  of  what  he  saw  was  a  Greek  mathematician,  Pytheas,  Pytheas. 
who  in  the  fourth  century  B.C.  was  sent  by  the  merchants 
of  Marseilles  to  inquire  into  the  trade  opportunities  of 
the  "Celtic  countries"  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules. 
Pytheas  explored  only  the  east  coast  of  Britain  and  hence 
knew  nothing  of  Cornwall,  but  he  reported  to  his  patrons 
that  the  much-sought  metal  was  carried  by  the  natives  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Thames  for  sale.  In  the  last  century  be- 
fore Christ,  Posidonius,  a  learned  traveller  from  Rhodes,  Posidonius. 
visited  the  "  land  of  the  wintry  pole,"  and  he  records  that 
slabs  of  tin  were  brought  from  the  western  peninsula  to 
an  island '  on  the  east  coast.  Thence  the  precious  freight 
was  taken  in  open  boats  to  a  port  in  Gaul,  carted  over- 
land a  thirty  days'  journey  to  the  Rhone,  and  finally  trans- 
ported down  that  river  to  Marseilles. 

Late  in  the  pre-Christian  era,  several  tribes  of  Gauls  and 
Belgians  crossed  the  Channel  and,  settling  in  south  Britain, 
cultivated  the  soil  to  better  advantage  than  the  more  primi- 
tive Celts  who  preceded  them  had  been  able  to  do.  They 
were  probably  Gallic  farmers  whom  Pytheas  saw  gathering 
the  sheaves  into  great  barns  to  thresh  out  the  corn  there 
"because  they  have  so  httle  sunshine,  that  our  open  thresh- 
ing places  would  be  of  little  use  in  that  land  of  clouds  and 
rain."  Up  the  Thames  valley  and  north  along  the  coast  to 
the  Wash  these  late-come  Celts  pushed  their  settlements, 
driving  the  Britons  before  them.  The  wilderness  was  con-  Traill,  I, 
verted  into  cultivated  fields,  villages  became  populous  PP-  ^4-9°. 
towns,  and  a  considerable  commerce  sprang  up  between  the 
merchants  of  Gaul  and  their  kinsmen  across  the  Channel. 
The  more  civilized  land  furnished  salt,  articles  of  iron  and 
bronze,  together  with  cloth  and  pottery  of  finer  grade  than 
the  islanders  were  able  to  manufacture.      As  return  cargoes 

1  Probably  Thanet,  then  surrounded  by  water  at  high  tide. 
c 


1 8         Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 


Coracle  of  the  Early  Brlion 


were  sent,  in  addition  to  the  mineral  products  that  had 
first  attracted  traders  to  Britain,  cattle  and  hides,  wheat  and 
barley,  hunting  dogs  and  slaves.  The  ancient  trails  that 
ran    along    the    hilltops    and    sought    the    river-fords    were 

beaten  into  well-defined 
roads  and  furnished  easy 
communication  from  sea  to 
sea,  but  the  Thames  and 
the  Severn  were  the  high- 
ways of  trade.  On  the 
banks  .  of  each  river  the 
merchants  erected  an  altar 
to  Lud,  the  god  of  com- 
merce. Lud  had  a  silver 
hand  and  gave  good  luck 
to  all  who  sacrificed  at  his 
shrine.  The  memory  of  these  primitive  temples  of  mammon- 
worship  survives  in  Lydney,  the  name  of  a  Gloucestershire 
village,  and  in  Ludgate  Hill,  the  heart  of  the  commercial 
metropolis  of  the  globe.  The  Welsh  word  for  London  is 
still  Cser-Ludd,  Lud's  town. 

According  to  Strabo,  who  wrote  in  the  last  century  before 
Christ,  Britain  was  a  land  of  forest,  moor,  and  fen.  In  the 
south,  near  the  harbors  and  along  the  navigable  rivers,  were 
towns  and  cultivated  lands,  —  the  settlements  of  the  Gauls; 
but  to  the  north  and  west.  Nature  had  her  way  with  the 
country.  Two-thirds  of  the  island  was  covered  by  a  heavy 
growth  of  gigantic  oaks.  The  Channel  coast  was  skirted  by 
forests  all  the  way  from  Kent  to  Devon.  The  valleys  of 
the  Thames  and  the  Severn  were  densely  wooded,  but  the 
chalk  hills  north  and  south  of  the  Thames  were  compara- 
tively open.  Here,  where  the  land  was  easily  cleared,  were 
the  pastures,  the  scant  cornfields,  and  the  earthwork  fort- 
resses of  the  British  tribes.  Along  the  Wash  the  tides  ran 
far  inland,  inundating  the  level  stretches  of  river-bottom 
and  converting  them  into  uninhabitable  fens.  Further  north, 
dense  forests  extended  from  the  coast  to  the  barren  range 


TJie  Roman  Conquest 


19 


of  hills  forming  the  watershed  between  the  rivers  thai 
run  to  the  German  Ocean  and  those  that  make  their  way  to 
the  Irish  Sea.  The  highlands  to  the  west  and  north  were 
trackless  wilderness.  To  the  inhabitants  of  southern  Eu- 
rope, the  chmate  seemed  cold  and  forbidding.  "The  sky 
is  rather  stormy  than  cloudy,  and  in  fine  weather  there  is 
a  mist  which  lasts  some  time  so  that  the  sun  is  only  seen 
for  three  or  four  hours  in  the  middle  of  the  day."  But  the 
land  was  abundantly  fertile,  the  forests  teemed  with  game 
and  the  rivers  with  fish,  pearls  were  cast  upon  the  sea- 
shore, and  precious  metals  were  to  be  had  with  little  labor 
from  the  western  hills.  No  wonder  that  Britain  exercised  a 
potent  influence  on  the  adventurous  spirits  of  the  ancient 
world. 

The  Roman  Conquest.  —  A  land  so  promising  could  not 
long  escape  the  attention  of  the  Romans,  the  world  con- 
querors. Juhus  Ceesar  first  came  into  contact  with  the 
Britons  during  the  campaigns  in  Gaul.  Learning  that  the 
Veneti,  who  were  contesting  his  authority,  received  aid  from 
their  kinsmen  over-sea,  he  determined  to  strike  terror  to  the 
hearts  of  the  daring  Britons.  In  August  of  55  B.C.,  two 
legions  were  embarked  to  carry  his  purpose  into  effect. 
But  then,  as  often  in  later  history,  the  difficult  winds  and 
tides  of  the  Channel  proved  the  best  defence  of  the 
islanders.  The  first  expedition  was  demoralized  by  a 
storm.  When,  in  the  year  following,  C?esar  crossed  again 
with  five  legions,  he  made  his  way  into  the  interior  and  de- 
stroyed a  stockaded  fortress  on  the  Thames.  Nothing  was 
achieved,  however,  beyond  a  vain  promise  of  tribute.  Vexed 
by  the  loss  of  many  of  his  ships  and  persuading  himself 
that  his  object  was  accomplished,  the  great  general  with- 
drew his  forces. 

The  systematic  conquest  of  "  the  cliff-girt  isle  "  was  not 
undertaken  till  a  hundred  years  later.  In  43  A.D.,the  Em- 
peror Claudius  despatched  forty  thousand  men  under  Aulus 
Plautius  on  this  mission.  During  his  four  years'  sojourn  in 
Britain,  Plautius  succeeded  in  subduing  the  Gallic  tribes  to 


Julius 
Caesar. 

Traill,  1, 
pp.  10-15 


Caesar, 
Gallic  War 

IV,  22,  28; 

V,  8,  18. 


Aulus 
Plautius 


20 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 


the  south  of  the  Wash  and  the  Severn,  and  thus  put  the 
Romans  in  possession  of  the  coveted  tin  mines.  His  im- 
mediate successors  built  a  hne  of  forts  along  this  frontier, 
planted  a  Roman  colony  at  Camulodunum/  and  carried  the 
terror  of  the  Roman  name  into  the  mountains  of  the  west. 
The  sacred  grove  of  the  Druids  in  the  island  of  Mona 
(Anglesea)  was  destroyed,  and  the  faith  of  the  Celts  in 
the    protecting   power   of  their   ancient    gods  was  shaken. 


A  Roman  Galley,  showing  the  Boarding  Bridge,  etc 

From  an  old  print 

The  western  confines  of  the  Roman  conquest  were  guarded 
by  a  series  of  fortified  towns,  —  Deva  (Chester),  Uriconium 
(Wroxeter),  and  Isca  Silurum  (Caerleon  upon  Usk).^ 

Agricola.  —  Roman  authority  was  thus  established  in  the 
heart  of  Britain.  Plautius  and  the  generals  who  immedi- 
ately followed  him  were,  however,  but  military  leaders, 
rapid  and  cruel  in  their  methods,  and  unsuited  to  the  diffi- 
cult task  of  governing  newly  subject  barbarians.     The  pro- 


1  The  capital  city  of  Shakespeare's  Cynibeline,  now  Colchester. 

2  The  "  towered  Camelot  "  of  Arthurian  romance. 


Extent  of  the  Roma7i  Province  21 

cess  of  civilization  began  with  the  advent  of  Agricola.  This 
able  governor  subdued  the  Celtic  tribes  west  to  the  Irish 
Sea  and  north  as  far  as  the  Solway  and  the  Tyne,  and 
established  a  strong  garrison  at  Eboracum  (York)  which 
became  the  centre  of  Roman  influence  in  the  north.  Thus 
Agricola  ranks  with  the  foremost  of  the  conquerors ;  but 
he  knew  that  a  conquest  which  "  loads  the  vanquished  Tacitus, 
with  injury  and  oppression  can  never  be  secure  and  per- 
manent," He  therefore  undertook  to  reconcile  the  people 
to  Roman  rule  by  appointing  just  men  to  office,  sup- 
pressing the  abuses  that  were  rife  under  his  predeces- 
sors, checking  the  intertribal  feuds  that  had  been  the  curse 
of  Britain,  and  guarding  the  prosperous  south  against  the 
untamed  barbarians  beyond  the  frontiers.  It  was  in  the 
hope  of  overawing  the  Picts  of  the  north  —  Caledonians, 
as  the  Romans  called  them  —  that  Agricola  pushed  his 
conquests  to  the  valley  lying  between  the  estuaries  of  the 
Forth  and  the  Clyde.  The  highlands  beyond  proved  un- 
conquerable. The  tribal  chieftains  summoned  their  fol- 
lowers to  the  upland  glens  and  defied  pursuit.  The  Roman 
commander  was  obliged  to  be  content  with  erecting  a  new 
line  of  forts  along  this  northernmost  frontier,  Agricola  had 
projected  an  invasion  of  Ireland,  but  he  was  not  allowed 
time  to  carry  out  this  plan.  The  sister  island  remained 
independent  and  a  refuge  for  malcontents  until  long  after 
Roman  dominion  had  passed  away.  After  six  years  of 
efficient  service,  the  best  ruler  Rome  ever  sent  to  Britain 
\^2&  recalled  because  of  the  emperor's  jealousy,  but  Agricola 
"  delivered  to  his  successor,"  says  his  biographer  Tacitus, 
"a  quiet  and  well-ordered  government." 

Extent  of  the  Roman  Province. —  In  the  next  century 
these  conquests  were  secured  by  walls  connecting  the  origi-   -pj^g  Roman 
nal  fortresses.     Hadrian  erected  the  so-called  Roman  WalP   Walls, 
that  spans  the  seventy  miles   from   Carlisle    to   Newcastle. 
It  was  strongly  built  of  stone,  and   considerable   portions 

1  Hadrian's  Wall  (121  A.D.),  later  called  the  Picts'  Wall,  and  now  the 
Roman  Wall,  was  a  chain  of  forts  connected  by  an  intrenched  road. 


22 


Race  Elements  of  tJie  English  Nation 


of  it  are  standing  to  this  day. 


called  Oi  liuiu  b  D>k(L,  wab  bunt  in  the 


The  Wall  of  Antonine  ^  ran 
from   the   Forth   to  the 
Clyde,  and  bounded  the 
northernmost  conquest. 
It  was  less  securely  built 
of  earth,  as  befitted  the 
more    dubious     tenure. 
Within  these  limits  the 
Pax  Romana  \va;i  main- 
tained   for    upward    of 
three     centuries.      The 
English    race    has    not 
J        been   in    possession    of 
>        the  Atlantic  seaboard  of 
>;  .5;    North  America  so  long 
5  ^    a  time,  and  yet  the  Ro- 
^  ^    mans   did    not  Latinize 
r  h    Britain  as  we  have  Angli- 
■^  ^    cized   our   part    of   the 
^  ^i;^   New   World.     The    ex- 
-  "^.    planation  of  their  failure 
^  ^    is  to  be    found   in   the 
*  i*    nature    of    the    Roman 
S       colony. 

^  The  Character  of  Ro- 

man Rule. —  The  Latin 
conquest  of  Britain 
meant  military  occupa- 
tion, not  settlement. 
Rome  held  the  country, 
as  Spain  held  her  colo- 
nies, for  the  sake  of  the 
revenue  to  be  derived 
and  the  lucrative  posts 
that  provincial  adminis- 

iThe  Wall  of  Antonine,  now 
reign  of  Antoninus  Pius  (143  A.D.). 


Gams 


23 


52.  53- 


tration  afforded  to  her  citizens.  The  native  popidation  was 
not  supplanted  as  we  have  supplanted  the  Indians,  but  left 
on  the  land  and  governed  in  the  interest  of  Rome.  It  suited 
the  conquerors  that  the  people  should  be  contented  and  pros- 
perous, therefore  stable  government  was  maintained,  the  land 
was  protected  against  invasion  and  civil  war,  while  Britons 
who  had  deserved  well  of  the  ruling  Caesar  were  admitted 
to  Roman  citizenship. 

Gains.  —  Great  attention  was  given  to  the  development   Traill,  i, 
of  the  material  resources  of  the  country.     The  mines  were   ^P"  ^°'^5 
worked  to  their  full  capacity,  forests  were  cleared,  marshes 
drained,  and  the  area  of  tillage  extended  by  forced  labor. 
As  far  north  as  Hadrian's   Wall  the  country  was  portioned    Cunning- 
out  in  great  estates  and  cultivated   for  the  benefit  of  the    ham,  pp. 
alien  owners  by  the  subjugated  Celts.     The  Roman  proprie- 
tors introduced  iron-shod  tools,  fruit  trees,  grape  vines,  new 
varieties  of  seed,  better  breeds  of  cattle,  and  rotation  of 
crops.     Under  their  intelligent  supervision,  Britain  became 
"the   granary  of  the   north."     The  remains  of  numerous 
palaces  and  villas,  solidly  built  of  stone,  handsomely  paved, 
and  provided  with  hot-air  pipes  as  a  protection  against  this 
climate  "  always  damp  with  rains  and  overcast  with  clouds," 
still  testify  to  the  wealth  of  the  Roman  landowners. 

An  alien  and  hated  ruling  class  would  not  neglect  the 
means  of  communication.  Military  roads  were  cut  straight 
through  the  country  to  connect  strategic  points.  The  old 
streets  were  widened,  graded,  and  substantially  paved  with 
stone,  bridges  were  built  across  the  more  dangerous  fords, 
and  no  pains  was  spared  in  the  effort  to  facilitate  trade. 
Four  highways  converged  at  Londinium  (London),  already 
become  the  commercial  centre  of  Britain,  and  three  at  the 
important  frontier  fortress  of  Deva  (Chester).  Two  well- 
travelled  roads  crossed  at  Aquag  Sulis  (Bath),  much  fre- 
quented even  then  for  its  medicinal  waters.  The  principal 
roads  were  Watling  Street  running  from  Rutupige  (Rich- 
borough)  on  the  Channel  by  way  of  London  and  Wroxeter 
to  Chester   and   the  Irish  Sea  ;  Irmin  Street  from  Lincoln 


The  Roman 
roads. 


24         Race  Elements  of  the  Ejiglish  Nation 

through  a  pottery  district  to  Colchester  and  London;  and 
the  Fosse  Way,  connecting  Lincoln  with  Bath.  Under  the 
influence  of  the  Latins,  the  land  waxed  rich  and  populous. 
Camps  and  military  stations,  maintained  at  first  for  defence, 
attracted  a  non-martial  population  and  soon  became  towns. 
Two  centuries  after  the  conquest,  Britain  boasted  fifty-nine 
cities,  thirty  of  which  were  fortified.^     These  were  the  cen- 


%'0f^-^^'iirp:!^: 


Multangular  Tower,  York 

The  lower  half  is  of  Roman  masonry 


tres  of  Roman  civilization,  the  seats  of  Roman  government. 
Here  were  palaces,  baths,  theatres,  and  the  other  luxuries 
that  rendered  provincial  life  endurable  to  the  conquerors. 
Agricola  had  encouraged  education  and  brought  Roman 
tutors  to  Britain.  Under  Hadrian,  the  land  was  described 
as  having  been  conquered  by  Gallic  schoolmasters.     Latin 

1  Several  English  cities  retain  in  their  modern  names  evidence  of 
Roman  origin;  e.g:  Porchester  (Portus  Magnus),  Lincoln  (Lindum 
Colonia),  Gloucester  (Glevum  Castrum),  Winchester  (Gwent  Castrum). 


Losses  25 

was  the  prevailing  language  in  the  towns.  The  Celtic 
tongue,  despised  and  forgotten,  was  banished  to  the  rural 
districts. 

Losses.  —  Great  as  were  the  advantages  of  Roman  rule,  Traill,  I, 
they  were  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  heavy  burdens  ^^'  ^°~^^- 
imposed.  Besides  the  usual  money  tribute  levied  upon  the 
provinces,  Britain  was  obliged  to  furnish  a  fixed  quota  of 
corn  for  the  maintenance  of  the  imperial  armies.  Customs 
duties  were  collected  at  every  port,  and  the  flourishing  trade 
with  the  Continent  was  made  to  pay  toll  to  the  imperial 
treasury.  Estates  were  assessed  to  the  full  amount  of  their 
revenue,  and  prompt  payment  was  extorted.  The  visit  of 
the  tax-gatherer  furnished  the  occasion  for  more  than  one 
insurrection.^ 

This  was  not  all.  The  Britons  complained  that  they  were 
forced  to  pay  "  a  yearly  tribute  of  their  bodies."  The  men 
annually  drafted  into  the  army  and  navy  were  sent  abroad 
for  service,  "  as  if  they  might  die  for  every  country  but  their  xacitus 
own."  It  was  part  of  the  imperial  policy  to  break  down 
national  feeling  in  the  provinces  by  such  interchange  of 
troops.  An  African  serving  in  Gaul,  or  a  Briton  serving  in 
the  Pyrenees,  lost  his  provincialism  and  learned  to  consider 
himself  the  servant  of  Caesar.  Britain  was  doubtless  civil- 
ized by  the  Roman  occupation,  but  at  heavy  cost.  The 
steady  drain  of  money,  blood,  and  patriotism  reduced  the 
people  to  impotency. 

A  source  of  weakness,  more  insidious  but  no  less  sure, 
was  the  demoralization  consequent  on  contact  with  Roman 
life.  Few  barbarous  peoples  are  able  to  retain  their  race 
integrity  in  the  presence  of  a  higher  civilization.  As  they 
imitate  alien  customs,  they  are  prone  to  abandon  their  own 
moral  standards.  In  the  case  of  the  Romanized  Celts,  the 
civilization  they  adopted  was  fundamentally  corrupt.  The 
Roman  rulers  gave  to  Britain  a  strong  government  and 
encouraged  advanced  methods  of  commerce  and  industry, 
but  they  introduced  at  the  same  time  enervating  luxuries 

1  e.g.  the  rising  under  Boadicea,  61  A.D. 


26  Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 

and  unmanly  vices.  The  inhabitants  who  came  under  the 
influence  of  Rome  lapsed  slowly  into  sloth  and  cowardice. 
Christian  missionaries,  it  is  true,  came  from  Rome,  —  the 
Apostle  Paul  himself,  tradition  would  have  us  believe ;  but 
not  until  the  fourth  century,  not  until  Constantine  had 
placed  the  cross  upon  the  imperial  banner,  was  the  church 
established  in  Britain.  Its  hold  upon  the  people  was  slight. 
In  many  of  the  towns.  Christian  temples  were  built  ^  and 
the  clergy  obtained  considerable  influence,  but  in  the  rural 
districts,  spite  of  the  many  mission  monasteries  dedicated 
to  the  conversion  of  the  Britons,  the  superstitious  practices 
of  Druidism  Hngered. 

The  Barbarian  Invasions.  —  When  the  power  of  Rome 
began  to  wane  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  withdraw 
the  imperial  troops  from  this  remote  province,  the  Celts 
were  become  "an  indolent  and  slothful  race"  with  no 
capacity  to  govern  themselves  or  to  defend  their  land 
against  invasion.  Enemies  multiplied  apace.  Picts  (Iberi- 
ans from  Scotland)  swarmed  over  the  unprotected  wall, 
Scots  (Celts  from  Ireland)  crossed  the  Irish  Sea  and  made 
their  way  up  the  Solvvay,  the  Dee,  and  the  Severn  into  the 
interior.  These  were  old  foes,  but  worse  was  to  come. 
Along  the  east  and  south  coasts,  for  centuries  exempt  from 
war,  appeared  the  Saxons.  These  were  daring  pirates,  who, 
crossing  the  North  Sea  in  their  long  galleys,  sought  plunder 
in  Britain.  Beaching  their  boats  where  occasion  offered, 
they  forced  a  landing  and  preyed  upon  the  helpless  inhabit- 
ants. Desperate  attempts  were  made  to  ward  off  the  in- 
vaders. Watch-towers  were  built  on  every  navigable  river 
along  the  coast  from  the  Wash  to  Beachy  Head.  The  de- 
fence of  the  south  was  entrusted  to  a  commander  entitled 
"  the  Count  of  the  Saxon  shore,"  while  a  "  Duke  of  the 
Britons  "  was  appointed  to  hold  the  Scots  and  Picts  at  bay. 
All  was  of  little  avail.  The  attacks  of  the  barbarians  grew 
more  frequent,  more  persistent,  and  the  resistance  less  ef- 
fective  every  year.     "They  levelled,  trampled   down,  and 

1  e.g.  St.  Martin's  at  Canterbury. 


4      Longitude      3  from  2       Greenwich     1  0  East  1 


eORMAY  it  CO.,t.NQR-SjH.Y. 


28         Race  Elements  of  the  EnglisJi  Nation 


swept  off  whatever  came  in  their  way,  as  if  they  were  reap- 
ing corn  ripe  for  the  harvest." 

The  emperor  could  give  no  adequate  assistance,  for 
barbarians  threatened  not  Britain  only  but  every  frontier 
province.  The  Vandals  invaded  Gaul  and  severed  the 
communication  between  Britain  and  Rome.  The  imperial 
city  was  itself  pillaged  by  the  Goths  (410)  and  had  need  of 
all  her  legions.  In  411  Honorius  sent  letters  bidding  the 
Britons  look  to  their  own  defence.  One  last  appeal  the 
abandoned  province  addressed  to  Rome.  "The  barbari- 
ans," they  said,  "  drive  us  to  the  sea  ;  the  sea  throws  us  back 
on  the  barbarians  :  thus  two  modes  of  death  await  us,  we 
are  either  slain  or  drowned."^  The  withdrawal  of  the 
Roman  officials  gave  opportunity  for  the  tribal  chiefs  to 
assert  their  authority.  One  after  another  assumed  the  title 
"Duke  of  Britain,"  but  no  one  was  strong  enough  to  unite 
the  several  tribes  under  his  leadership.  Rival  ambitions 
led  to  demoralizing  strife,  and  Britain  was  a  kingdom  di- 
vided against  itself  in  the  day  when  it  had  most  need  of 
strength. 

The  Saxon  Conquest.  —  The  newcomers  were  Teutons  — 
a  race  akin  to  Roman,  Celt,  and  Iberian  alike  —  tall  and 
blond,  with  fierce  blue  eyes  and  speaking  an  unknown  tongue. 
They  came  from  the  low  peninsula  that  lies  between  the 
Baltic  and  the  North  Sea  :  the  Jutes  from  the  land  we  now 
call  Denmark,  the  Angles  from  Schleswig-Holstein,  the 
Saxons  from  the  valleys  of  the  Weser  and  Elbe  rivers.  The 
region  they  abandoned  was  wild  swamp-land  and  forest. 
To  their  unaccustomed  eyes,  the  cultivated  fields  and  popu- 
lous cities  of  Britain  were  marvels  of  wealth  and  a  tempting 
prey.  They  crossed  the  sea  in  war-bands,  each  chief  ac- 
companied by  his  gesiths,  warriors  pledged  to  fight  by  his 
side  to  the  death  and  entitled  to  a  share  in  the  booty.  The 
object  of  the  first  expeditions  was  pillage.  Later,  as  they 
proved   their   prowess,  the  invaders  grew  more  ambitious, 

1  Quoted  by  Gildas  from  the  "Groans  of  the  Britons,"  an  appeal  ad' 
dressed  to  Rome  in  446  A.D. 


6  We3t       6  4       Longitude     3  from  2      Greeawich    1 


0  East  1 

B08MAy  A  CO.,ENaR'S,NJ 


A 


30  Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 

and  bringing  with  them  women,  children,  and  cattle,  fought 
with  a  view  to  securing  settlements. 

Fearing  to  be  worsted  in  the  unequal  contest,  the  Britons 
employed  a  Roman  device  and  bribed  one  set  of  barbarians 
Jutes.  to  drive  out  another.     In  449,  a  band  of  Jutes,  under  Hen- 

Green,  gist  and  Horsa,^  was  engaged  to  lend  aid  against  the  Picts 

pp.  7-12.         2Si^  was  thereupon  allowed  to  occupy  the  Isle  of  Thanet, 
Source-Book,    But  the  Strange  allies    soon  became    troublesome.      Com- 
pp.  12, 13.       plaining  that  the  supplies  provided  them  were  insufficient, 
they   ravaged   the  adjoining  country,  driving   the    terrified 
inhabitants  to  take  refuge  in  the  churches,  in  the  forest,  in 
Anglo-Saxon    the  wallcd  city  of  London.      "The  people  fled  from  the 
Chronicle.        Saxons  as  from  fire."     Villas  were  burned,  temples  pillaged, 
fields  laid  waste,  while  all  who  made  resistance  were  put  to 
the  sword.      By  473,  the  Jutes  were  in  full  possession  of 
Saxons  Kent.     Four  years  later,  a  company  of  Saxons  under  /Ella 

and  Cissa  landed  at  Selsey,  and,  storming  the  fortified  places, 
conquered  the  south  shore  east  to  Anderida,  and  settled 
as  South  Saxons.  In  495  other  bands  of  Jutes  and  Saxons, 
led  by  Cerdic  and  Cymric,  entered  at  Southampton  Water, 
pushed  west  and  north,  and  founded  the  kingdom  of  Wes- 
sex.  The  advance  of  the  invaders  seemed  resistless,  but 
they  met  a  British  force  in  pitched  battle  at  Mt.  Badon 
(516)  and  received  a  sudden  check.  The  Saxons  were 
forced  back  below  the  stretch  of  upland  forest  that  then 
divided  the  Thames  valley  from  the  southern  slopes  of  the 
Hampshire  downs.  The  reviving  courage  of  the  Celts,  and 
the  praises  of  the  hero  king  who  led  them  to  victory,  were 
expressed  in  the  legends  of  Arthur.  For  the  moment,  the 
fate  of  Britain  seemed  averted,  but  the  respite  was  brief. 
In  552,  the  strong  walls  of  Old  Sarum  gave  way,  and  by 
577,  the  West  Saxons  had  pushed  their  conquests  to  the 
Daorham,  Severn.  At  the  battle  of  Deorham,  three  British  kings  were 
577-  slain  and   three  strong  cities,  Gloucester,  Cirencester,  and 

Bath,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  invader.     This  victory  was 

1  Hengist  and    Horsa,  Cerdic   and   Cymric,  ^Ua  and  Cissa,   may  be 
legendary  heroes. 


The  Saxon  Conqiiest  31 

decisive,  for  the  Saxon  conquest  drove  like  a  wedge  be- 
tween the  Celts  of  Devon  and  Cornwall  and  their  kinsmen 
of  Wales  and  the  north,  thus  rendering  concerted  resistance 
impossible. 

Meantime,  along  the  east  coast,  other  barbarians,  having  Green, 
possessed  themselves  of  the  country  from  the  Stour  to  the  PP-  ^^"^7- 
Thames,  settled  as  East  Saxons  in  the  land  we  call  Essex, 
and  as  Middle  Saxons  farther  west,  where  the  fortified  city 
of  London  fell  to  their  portion.  The  third  race  of  invaders, 
the  Angles,  making  straight  across  the  Channel,  forced  their  Angles 
way  into  the  inlets  of  the  east  coast  and  dispossessed  the 
Britons  in  like  fashion.  They  seem  to  have  assumed  new 
names,  geographical  rather  than  tribal.  Between  the  Stour 
and  the  Wash,  the  East  Anglians  settled  as  Northfolk  and 
Southfolk.  Farther  north,  about  the  Roman  fortress  of 
Linduni,  lay  the  Lindiswaras.  Beyond  the  Humber,  the 
Angles  were  called  Deirans  and  Bernicians  from  the  Celtic 
names  of  the  lands  they  held.  The  Mercians  were  the  men 
of  the  mark,  or  border,  who  held  the  English  frontier 
against  the  unconquered  Celts  of  the  western  highlands. 
Here  the  remnant  of  the  Britons,  whom  the  English  called 
Welsh,  or  "  strangers,"  stubbornly  stood  their  ground,  and 
succeeded  in  maintaining  for  centuries  to  come  their  tribal 
independence,  cherishing  with  fervent  patriotism  the  lan- 
guage, customs,  and  traditions  of  their  race.  The  Roman- 
ized Gauls  to  the  south  and  east  made  no  such  resistance, 
but  sullenly  submitted  to  the  superior  strength  of  the  in- 
vader. How  fir  they  were  exterminated  is  an  open  ques- 
tion. The  towns  doubtless  suffered  severely,  and  the 
populous  river  valleys  ;  the  chieftains  and  fighting-men  fell 
in  battle  ;  but  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  mass 
of  the  conquered,  notably  the  women,  were  spared  to  serve 
their  conquerors  in  house  and  field. 

Thus,  over  the  greater  part  of  England  the  Celts  were 
reduced  to  subjection  on  the  lands  that  they  had  once 
wrested  from  the  Iberians.  An  interesting  evidence  of  their 
degradation  is  the  fact  that  the  few  Celtic  words  surviving 


32         Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 

in  English  speech  are  the  names  of  household  furniture  and 
farm  implements.'  Nothing  of  Celtic  usage  survives  in 
English  institutions. 

Effects  of  the  Saxon  Conquest.  —  Bred  in  the  forests  of 
north  Germany,  remote  from  the  Roman  frontier,  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  knew  nothing  of  the  Latin  language,  law,  or  religion. 
Hence  the  conquest  meant  reversion  to  barbarism.  On  the 
Continent  the  Teuton  invaders,  Visigoths,  Franks,  Lombards, 
were  won  over  to  the  civilization  of  the  empire  they  de- 
stroyed, adopting  the  speech  and  the  faith  of  the  lands  they 


Ruins  of  Iona'Cathedk.vl 

Macgibbon  and  Ross,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  Scotland 

settled.  But  it  was  otherwise  in  Britain.  The  barbarians 
Cunning-  laid  waste  the  cities,^  slaughtered  the  inhabitants,  and 
am,  p.  5  •  reduced  the  splendid  Roman  palaces  to  smoking  ruins. 
Christian  temples  were  sacked  by  the  champions  of  Woden 
and  Thor.  Priests  and  monks  were  driven  to  take  refuge 
in  the  fastnesses  of  the  Welsh  mountains,  or  the  remote 
Irish  shore.  Wherever  the  Saxon  won  a  foothold  paganism 
triumphed.  Latin  and  Celtic  ceased  to  be  used  in  the 
conquered  districts,  and  all  classes  soon  adopted  tlie  Ger- 
manic dialects  spoken  by  the  new  masters. 

1  e.g.  pony,  cart,  cradle,  crock,  bannock,  slough. 

2  Many    ruined    cities    were   later   rebuilt,   but  Anderida,   Uriconium, 
Verulamiiim,  lie  in  ruins  still. 


Effects  of  tJie  Saxon  Conquest 


33 


The  speech  of  the  conquered  race  never  recovered  su- 
premacy, but  it  was  otherwise  with  Christianity,  for  the 
church  had  its  missionaries.  Saint  Patrick,  a  British  slave, 
had  won  the  wild  Irish  to  the  faith  of  Christ  in  the  fifth 
century.  In  the  sixth,  Ireland  sent  ardent  apostles  for  the 
reconversion  of  Britain.  Columba  founded  a  mission  mon- 
astery at  lona,  Aidan  christened  Lindisfarne  the  Holy  Isle, 
Cuthbert  preached  the  gospel  to  the  Northumbrians,  Chad 
to  the  Mercians.  The  Pope  sent  his  emissaries  as  well : 
Augustine  to  the  men  of  Kent,  Birinus  to  Wessex,  Paulinus 
to  the  Northumbrians,  Ninias  to  the  Picts.  The  English 
proved  ready  converts.  The  "  unsullied  life  "  of  the  de- 
voted missionaries  won  their  hearts,  and  they  gladly  received 
at  such  hands  the  religion  that  promised  a  more  certain 
knowledge  of  the  life  and  destiny  of  man  than  their  nature 
myths  could  give.  Mercia  alone  held  out.  For  twenty- 
two  years  (633-655)  Penda,  the  chief  of  the  borderland, 
fought  the  battle  of  the  old  gods  against  Edwin,  the  Chris- 
tian king  of  Northumbria.  Not  till  the  sturdy  old  heathen 
lay  dead,  were  the  labors  of  Chad  crowned  with  success  by 
the  baptism  of  Penda's  son  and  successor,  Peada. 

Of  Roman  law  and  forms  of  government  little  survived 
the  conquest.  The  Anglo-Saxons  followed  their  ancient 
customs  so  far  as  they  suited  new  conditions.  Some  increase 
of  the  chieftain's  authority  was  inevitable.  The  leader  of 
each  invading  host  was  recognized  as  king  of  the  conquered 
territory.^  It  was  usual  to  attribute  to  such  heroes  descent 
from  Woden  and  to  confer  the  royal  office  on  one  of  his 
sons,  but  there  was  no  hereditary  right.  The  ablest  man 
of  the  house  was  usually  designated  by  the  assembled  war- 
riors {\h&  foIk-}?ioflt).  The  members  of  the  war-band,  the 
gesiths,  who  had  shared  the  hardships  and  the  glories  of  the 
conquest,  remained  in  attendance  on  the  king  as  his  thegns. 
They  were  his  immediate  councillors  and  the  stable  element 
of  his  fighting  force.     The  rank  and  file  of  freemen  were 

1  Hengist  is  said  to  have  become  king  of  Kent,  and  Cerdic  king  of 
the  West  Saxons. 


Green, 

pp.  17-28. 

Introduction 

of 

Christianity 


Source-Book, 
pp.  14-16. 


Bede. 


Political 
organiza- 
tion. 


Green, 
pp.  1-4. 


34  Race  Eleinejits  of  the  EnglisJi  Natio7i 

summoned  twice  a  year  to  the  folk-moot  and  were  liable  at 
the  call  of  the  king  to  occasional  service  in  the  army  or  fyrd. 
It  is  probable  that  the  conquering  Saxons  settled  by  com- 
panies in  villages  {tuns  or  hams),  each  clan  giving  its  name  to 
the  settlement.'  The  land  was  apportioned  as  booty  among 
the  warriors  according  to  rank.  The  chief  probably  retained 
the  largest  share,  to  his  immediate  followers  would  be 
assigned  considerable  estates,  while  the  simple  freemen 
secured  each  a  strip  of  arable  land  and  had  the  right  to 
pasture  cattle  in  the  common  meadows,  to  hunt  and  to 
gather  wood  in  the  forest  surrounding  the  village. 

The  Welsh  communities  in  the  north  and  west  remained 
unaffected  by  the  conquest,  but  in  the  English  districts  the 
subjugated  Celts  were  generally  reduced  to  serfdom.  Indi- 
viduals were  doubtless  sold  into  bondage,  but  the  mass  of 
the  people  remained  as  servile  cultivators  and  craftsmen 
on  the  estates  of  the  large  landowners.  The  position  of  the 
serf  was  far  superior  to  that  of  the  slave.  He  was  obliged 
to  labor  at  the  bidding  of  his  lord  and  to  render  a  certain 
amount  of  produce  for  the  maintenance  of  his  master's 
household,  but  he  could  not  be  sold  into  slavery  nor  could 
he  be  deprived  of  the  right  to  live  off  the  land  his  fathers 
had  tilled.  Some  of  the  great  Roman  estates  may  have 
survived  the  conquest,  but  through  the  greater  part  of  Eng- 
land the  fields  were  laid  waste  and  the  very  tradition  of 
advanced  methods  of  cultivation  lost. 

Thus  modern  England  owes  httle  to  Roman  Britain.  So 
complete  was  the  Germanic  conquest,  so  fully  do  Anglo- 
Saxon  language,  customs,  and  race  traits  dominate  all  later 
development,  that  English  history  may  be  said  to  date  from 
the  fifth  century.  The  national  life  begins  when  the  English 
people  come  into  possession  of  their  island  home. 

Unsullied  by  Roman  civilization,  in  the  full  vigor  of  barba- 
Traiii,  I,  rism,  fierce  fighters  and  heavy  eaters,  the  Saxons  had  slight 

pp.  132, 133.     comprehension  of  art,  literature,  or  the  refinements  of  civ- 

1  Many  of  these  generic  names  survive  in  modern  England,  e.g.  Hun- 
tingdon, town  of  the  Huntings  ;  Buckingliam,  home  of  the  Buckings. 


Attainvicnt  of  Ecclesiastical  Unity 


35 


ilization  ;  but  they  were  physically  superior  to  their  prede- 
cessors in  Britain,  and  they  possessed  the  capacity  for 
self-defence  and  self-government  that  the  demoralized  Celts 
conspicuously  lacked.  Even  the  Welsh  mountain  tribes 
were  weak  by  comparison.  A  pastoral  people,  they  had 
slight  sense  of  ownership  in  their  grazing  lands  and  readily 
abandoned  them  when  threatened  by  superior  force.  The 
Saxons,  on  the  other  hand,  lived  by  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil.  No  later  invader  succeeded  in  dispossessing  them. 
They  remain  fest  rooted  to  the  land  and  have  furnished  the 
most  enduring  element  in  English  life  and  character. 


Inscription  from  a  Runic  Stunk 

De  Worsaae,  The  Primeval  Antiquities  of  Denmark 


Attainment  of  Ecclesiastical  Unity.  —  The  first  apostles 
to  the  English  worked  quite  independently  of  each  other 
and  often  at  cross-purposes.  The  southern  kingdoms  were 
converted  by  missionaries  sent  from  Rome,  while  the  north 
received  the  faith  from  the  lips  of  Irish  monks.  Certain 
differences  of  observance,  slight  enough  in  themselves,^  dis- 
tinguished the  emissaries  of  the  Pope  from  the  disciples  of 
Columba.  Each  faction  insisted  on  its  own  usage,  and  sharp 
dissension  arose.  In  664,  a  great  synod  was  held  at  Whitby, 
where  a  decision  was  reached,  confirming  the  Roman  cus- 
tom, and  thereafter  the  English  church  recognized  the  Pope 
as  supreme  authority  in  matters  spiritual.     The  Irish  church 

1  Such  questions  as  the  suitable  form  of  tonsure  and  the  correct  date  for 
the  Easter  festival. 


Green, 
pp.  29  32 


36  Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 

remained  loyal  to  its  ancient  usage  and  independent  of 
Rome.  Wlien  Theodore  of  Tarsus  became  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  (668),  he  undertook  to  organize  the  churches 
of  the  several  Saxon  kingdoms  as  a  national  whole.  The 
number  of  bishops  was  increased  and  each  was  made  re- 
sponsible to  the  archbishop  for  the  well-being  of  his  own 
diocese.  Ecclesiastical  questions  of  general  importance 
were  to  be  determined  in  representative  councils.  Stable 
organization   gave   new  effectiveness   to   the   work   of  the 


Green, 
pp.  41-44. 


Saxon  Church  at  Bradford-on-Avon 

A  rch(Pological  yo7irnal 

church,  and  the  English  soon  came  to  be  regarded  as  the 
most  Christian  people  of  Western  Europe.  Within  a  hun- 
dred years  after  the  landing  of  Augustine,  England  was  send- 
ing missionaries  and  scholars  to  the  Continent.^ 

The  Postponement  of  Political  Unity.  —  ihe  church  was 
organized  on  national  lines  five  hundred  years  before  politi- 
cal unity  was  attamed.  During  the  eighth  and  ninth  cen- 
turies England  was  divided  into  a  number  of  little  kingdoms^ 
warring  against  each  other  for  increase  of  territory.    One  by 

1  Willibrord  to  Frisia,  Quidbert  to  Hesse,  Alcuin  to  the  court  of  Charle- 
magne. 

2  The  seven  kingd(jms,  Northumbria,  Mercia,  Wessex,  Sussex,  Kent, 
Essex,  East  Anglia,  made  up  the  so-called  Heptarchy. 


The  Danes 


Q 


one  the  weaker  states  were  forced  to  a  dependent  position, 
and  the  contest  for  supremacy  lay  between  the  three  great 
kingdoms,  Northumbria,  Mercia,  and  Wessex.  Each  in  turn 
won  the  leadership  only  to  be  displaced  by  a  stronger  rival. 
No  one  had  force  sufficient  to  establish  a  permanent  rule. 
The  title  of  Bretwalda,  conferred  upon  a  successful  king,  Bretwaida 
gave  him  no  authority  but  that  of  overlord  of  semi-indepen- 
dent states. 

These  unhappy  civil  dissensions  delayed  the  subjugation 
of  the  Celtic  tribes  to  the  north  and  west.  The  most 
martial  of  the  English  kings  succeeded  in  advancing  their 
boundaries  only  a  little  way  beyond  the  original  frontier. 
Ethelfrith  of  Northumbria  (593-617)  drove  the  Scots  back 
to  the  Firth  of  Forth  in  603.  Four  years  later  he  forced 
his  way  to  the  river  Dee,  and,  taking  possession  of  Chester, 
divided  the  Welsh  of  the  mountains  from  the  Celts  of 
Strathclyde.  Edwin,  his  able  successor  (617-633),  built  a 
fortress,  Edwinesburgh,  on  the  Forth  as  an  outpost  against 
the  Scots,  and  launching  a  fleet  on  the  Irish  Sea,  added 
Anglesea  and  the  Isle  of  Man  to  the  list  of  English  con- 
quests. Offa  of  Mercia  (758-794)  pushed  his  frontier 
beyond  the  Severn,  planted  a  settlement  at  Shrewsbury,  and 
erected  along  this  western  boundary  a  huge  dyke  called  by 
his  name.^  Egbert  of  Wessex  (802-839)  won  a  victory 
over  the  West  Welsh  that  gave  him  possession  of  Exeter  and 
added  Devon  to  his  kingdom. 

Egbert  was  the  eighth  Bretwalda,  but  the  first  "  king  of 
the  English."  His  kingdom  extended  from  the  Tamar  to 
the  Tweed,  from  Offa's  dyke  to  the  Channel,  almost  the 
present  confines  of  England.  But  the  time  was  not  ripe 
for  national  unity.  Tribal  distinctions  were  jealously  fos- 
tered by  the  subject  kings.  Northumbrians,  Mercians,  Jutes, 
and  Saxons  did  not  learn  to  act  as  one  people  until  they 
were  forced  to  do  so  in   meeting  a  common  danger  and 

\fighting  a  common  foe. 

'VT'he  Danes.  —  Toward    the  close  of  the  eighth  century, 

1  Offa's  dyke  may  still  be  traced  from  the  Wye  to  the  Dee. 


38 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 


Green, 

PP-  44-47- 


Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 


Traill,  1, 
pp.  140-147. 


Anglo-Saxon 
Ch?-onicle. 


civilization  was  threatened  by  new  barbarian  invasions ; 
the  Danes  or  Northmen  came  swarming  down  from  the 
Scandinavian  lands  along  the  Baltic  to  plunder  the  coast 
of  Europe.  England  first  became  aware  of  them  in  787, 
when  three  pirate  ships  attacked  the  town  of  Dorches- 
ter. Six  years  later  the  "  havoc  of  heathen  men  mis- 
erably destroyed  God's  church  at  Lindisfarne."  From  that 
time  the  raids  grew  more  frequent  till  they  became  a  yearly 
scourge. 

The  vikings '  found  Britain  a  rich  and  easy  prey.  Com- 
ing as  the  Angles  and  Jutes  had  done  three  hundred  years 
before,  as  pirates  aiming  at  pluncier,  they  were  at  first  con- 
tent to  harry  the  coast-lands  and  escape  over-sea  with  their 
booty.  As  they  gained  in  numbers  and  experience,  how- 
ever, they  made  their  way  up  the  rivers  and  attacked  popu- 
lous towns.  London  fell  a  prey  to  such  a  raid  (853),  and 
the  rich  episcopal  cities  of  Canterbury  (853)  and  York 
(867).  The  English  made  but  feeble  resistance,  preferring 
to  buy  off  the  foe  rather  than  fight  against  desperate  odds. 
They  had  lost  valor  and  military  skill  in  the  years  of  order 
and  plenty.  They  had  become  farmers,  merchants,  priests. 
Prosperous,  contented,  fully  wonted  to  the  arts  of  peace, 
they  were  loath  to  take  up  arms  except  when  danger 
threatened  their  own  immediate  vicinity.  Rudely  armed, 
undisciplined,  fighting  each  kingdom  and  each  town  for 
itself,  they  were  easily  worsted  by  the  war-bands  of  the 
Danes.  The  invaders,  on  the  other  hand,  were  mailed 
warriors  who,  mounted  on  horseback  and  free  of  incum- 
brances, swept  the  country  from  sea  to  sea.  Every  raid 
was  a  disaster  to  the  English,  marked  by  smoking  houses 
and  devastated  fields  ;  but  their  enemies  had  nothing  to 
lose.  When  brought  to  bay,  the  "  foxes  "  intrenched  them- 
selves in  hastily  constructed  earthworks.  Driven  thence, 
they  fled  over-sea  no  poorer  than  tliey  came.  The  black 
keels  of  the  Northmen  multiplied  year  by  year  until  their 


1  Norse  chieftains,  so  called  from  the  vicks  or  inlets  where  their  ships 
were  harbored. 


/  .  Foot 


Danish  Armor 

Dc  Worsaae,  Industrial  Arts  of  Denmark 


40  Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 

advent  darkened  the  sea.  Pushing  up  the  Thames,  the 
Severn,  and  the  rivers  of  the  east  coast,  they  overran 
Mercia,  East  Anglia,  and  Northumbria.  The  inhabitants 
could  make  no  eiTective  stand  against  them.  Lincohi  and 
Nottingham  fell  into  Danish  hands,  together  with  Derby, 
Leicester,  and  Stamford,  the  five  boroughs  from  which  they 
ruled  northern  England.  Once  secure  in  possession  of 
Northumbria  and  Mercia,  the  chieftains  apportioned  the 
lands  among  their  followers,  and  the  fierce  sea-rovers  began 
to  plough  and  sow  their  new  possessions  like  men  who  meant 
to  stay.     In  Kent  and  East  Anglia  the  "army"  plundered 


Viking  Ship  found  at  Gokstadt 

Montelius,  The  Civilizatioti  of  Sweden  in  Heathen  Times 


Green, 

pp.  47-49; 
53- 

Source-Book, 
pp.  21-24. 


and  burned  until  the  people  were  fain  to  purchase  a  humil- 
iating truce.  The  invaders  reached  Wessex  in  871,  but  here 
they  met  more  valiant  resistance.  King  Ethelred  and  his 
brother  Alfred  met  them  in  fair  fight.  Nine  great  battles 
were  fought  in  that  year,  but  with  so  dubious  result  that 
the  West  Saxons  were  forced  in  their  turn  to  make  a  com- 
promising peace. 

Alfred  (871-901).  —  When  Alfred  came  to  the  throne, 
the  realm  of  Egbert  was  reduced  to  Wessex  and  Devon ; 
and  Wessex  itself  was  so  cowed  by  defeat  that  the  people 
had  been  content  to  buy  off  the  Danes,  though  experience 
proved   that   such   promises  were   lightly  broken.     It   was 


Alfred  41 

Alfred's  task  to  encourage  his  people  to  undertake  a  united 
resistance.  In  878  the  "army"  again  crossed  the  Thames 
and  harried  the  west  country.  The  terrified  inhabitants 
submitted  or  fled  over-sea.  The  king  himself  was  put  to 
great  straits  and  took  refuge  with  a  little  band  of  faithful 
followers  in  the  woods  and  moor  fastnesses  of  Somerset. 
There  at  Athelney  he  threw  up  a  fortress  and  summoned 
the  people  to  his  aid.  The  hearts  of  the  West  Saxons 
"  resided  in  brave  dwellings."  They  only  needed  a  leader.  Anglo-Saxon 
From  all  the  adjacent  shires  men  true  and  valiant  flocked  c^'''»"<='^- 
to"  his  standard.  Desperation  lent  strength  to  the  little 
force,  so  that  they  sought  out  the  "army"  at  Ethandun 
and  put  it  to  flight.  Guthrurn,  the  Danish  chieftain,  was 
fain  to  promise  that  he  would  receive  baptism  and  molest 
Wessex  no  further.  Two  years  later  his  army  withdrew  to 
East  Anglia  and  settled  there.  Those  who  could  not  be 
reconciled  to  a  quiet  life  returned  over-sea.  In  the  treaty  Treaty  of 
of  Wedmore  (8,79),  concluded  between  Alfred  and  Gu-  Wedmore, 
thrum,  an  attempt  was  made  to  define  the  territory  con- 
quered by  the  Danes.  The  half  of  England  north  of 
Watling  Street,  including  Essex,  East  Anglia,  Eastern  Mercia, 
and  Deira,  was  conceded  to  be  Danelagh.  All  England 
south  of  the  Thames  remained  to  Alfred,  and  Western 
Mercia  acknowledged  his  overlordship.  Bernicia  was  in- 
dependent, but  English  and  friendly.  Fifteen  years  of  com- 
parative peace  followed  upon  Guthrum's  surrender. 

The  "  stillness  "  Alfred  longed  for  was,  however,  not  yet  Asser's  Life. 
secured.  The  "  heathen  "  were  ever  faith-breakers,  and  bap- 
tism could  not  purge  their  hearts  of  love  of  plunder.  New 
armies  came  over-sea,  and  the  Danes  of  East  Anglia  and  the 
north  were  prone  to  join  their  plundering  raids.  In  893, 
Hasting,  the  famous  freebooter  who  had  for  years  been  the 
terror  of  the  Frankish  kingdoms,  landed  in  Kent  with  two 
great  armies,  and  his  onslaught  threatened  to  overwhelm 
the  land.  The  emergency  lent  Alfred  authority  such  as  no 
king  of  the  English  had  yet  exercised.  Every  considerable 
landowner  was  obliged  to  furnish  a  fully  armed  horseman, 


4  West  3      Longitude        2  from  1        Greenwich       0  East  1 


Alfred  43 

while  every  freeman,  however  small  his  holding,  must  serve 
in  the  fyrd.  A  simple  rotation  of  service  converted  the 
occasional  levy  into  a  standing  army.  The  king  divided 
his  host  into  two  parts.  One  half  remained  at  home,  while 
the  other  half  served  in  the  field,  a  sufficient  number  of 
men  being  reserved  to  defend  the  cities.  With  this  force, 
the  king  marched  from  London  to  Exeter  and  back  again 
to  London,  driving  the  vikings  from  their  fastnesses  and 
burning  their  ships  when  they  came  ashore.  The  harvesters 
were  protected  as  they  gathered  the  crops,  and  the  king's 


Ancient  War  Canoe 

Miiller,  Nordische  Alterticmskujide 

troops  stood  guard  while  the  townsmen  rebuilt  their  walls. 
"  Thanks  be  to  God,"  cries  the  Chronicler,  "  the  army  had 
not  utterly  broken  up  the  Angle  race."  With  disciplined 
and  reliable  troops  at  his  service,  Alfred  was  more  than  a 
match  for  the  invaders  and  drove  them  from  the  land  ;  but 
the  vikings  were  still  masters  of  the  Channel  and  ready  to 
swoop  down  upon  any  undefended  point.  Realizing  that 
these  attacks  must  be  forestalled,  the  king  commanded 
great  ships  to  be  built  after  a  model  of  his  own  devising. 
They  were  longer  and  steadier  and  at  the  same  tmie  swifter 
than  the  "keels"  of  the  Danes.     In    897    the   little  navy 


44 


Race  Elements  of  tJic  EnglisJi  Nation 


Green, 
pp.  81-84. 


Prove}-bs  of 
Alfred. 


Green , 
PP-  53.  54- 


Source-Book, 
pp.  \-]-'2a. 


put  boldly  out  to  sea  and  drove  the  viking  fleet  from  the 
south  coast. 

The  Work  of  Alfred.  —  Alfred  rescued  Saxon  civilization 
when  he  confined  the  Danes  beyond  the  Thames  and  de- 
fended the  coast  against  further  devastating  inroads.  He 
laid  foundations  for  the  lasting  supremacy  of  the  English 
when  he  built  a  navy  and  organized  a  permanent  military 
force.  Thereafter  the  king  of  VVessex  was  the  rallying-point 
of  the  defence.  Long  after  the  house  of  Cerdic  had  ceased 
to  reign,  Alfred  was  hailed  as  England's  shepherd,  Eng- 
land's darling,  England's  comforter.  He  is  the  only  one  in 
the  long  line  of  English  kings  who  has  been  honored  with 
the  title  of  "  the  Great." 

For  Government.  —  The  war  against  the  Danes  was  not 
Alfred's  best  service  to  the  land  he  ruled.  Under  his 
wise  direction,  a  stable  government  was  established  for 
the  kingdom  south  of  the  Thames.  The  realm  was  ad- 
ministered in  districts  called  shires.^  For  each  shire,  an 
alderman  was  appointed  who  was  held  responsible  for 
the  execution  of  the  law  and  the  levying  of  troops  in  the 
king's  service.  The  sheriff  represented  the  king  in  the 
local  courts,  declaring  the  law  and  defending  the  royal  in- 
terests. From  the  decision  of  the  shire  court,  a  man  who 
felt  himself  injured  might  appeal  to  the  king.  Alfred  was 
accustomed  to  inquire  into  the  wisdom  of  the  sentences 
rendered  in  his  name,  and  to  call  to  account  judges  who 
through  ignorance  or  favor  had  failed  to  enforce  the  right. 
Asser  tells  us  how  eagerly  these  officers  set  to  work  to  study 
the  law,  and  how  bitterly  they  lamented  that  they  had  not 
been  properly  taught  in  their  youth  when  learning  would 
have  been  easier.  Their  task  was  rendered  a  difficult  one 
by  the  confused  and  conflicting  character  of  Anglo-Saxon 
law.  The  ancient  customs  had  been  reduced  to  writing 
and  promulgated  as  laws  by  the  early  kings,  but  chang- 
ing circumstances  had  brought  new  forms  into  vogue,  while 

1  Each  shire  corresponds  to  an  early  settlement,  and  the  shire-moot  to 
the  folk-moot  of  a  former  kingdom ;  e.g.  Kent,  Sussex,  Dorset,  Somerset. 


For  Literature  45 

much  of  the  old  usage  was  inapplicable.  Alfred  under- 
took to  simplify  and  reduce  to  a  uniform  code  the  various 
laws  and  customs  that  had  been  sanctioned  by  his  prede- 
cessors. There  is  little  that  is  new  in  his  "dooms,"  as  he 
himself  states  in  the  preamble.  "I  then,  Alfred,  king, 
gathered  these  (laws)  together  and  commanded  many  of 
those  to  be  written  which  our  forefathers  held,  those  which 
to  me  seemed  good,  and  many  of  those  which  seemed  to 
me  not  goodj  I  rejected  them  by  the  counsel  of  my  VVitan  — 
for  I  durst  not  venture  to  set  down  in  writing  much  of  my 
own,  for  it  was  unknown  to  me  what  of  it  would  please 
those  who  should  come  after  us." 

The  laws  of  Alfred  represent  the  best  wisdom  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  but  they  seem  barbaric  when  compared  with 
modern  legislation.  Penalties  were  not  so  much  preventive 
as  retaliatory.  Every  crime  had  its  price,  and  injuries 
must  be  atoned  for  by  the  payment  of  wer-gild  (blood-  Wer-gild 
money).  "If a  man  strike  out  another's  eye  let  him  pay 
60  shiUings."  "  If  a  man  strike  out  another's  tooth  in  the 
front  of  his  head,  let  him  make  amends  for  it  with  8  shil- 
lings ;  if  it  be  the  canine  tooth,  let  4  shillings  be  paid  as 
amends,  A  man's  grinder  is  worth  15  shillings."  This  was 
rough  justice,  but  it  had  the  effect  of  checking  crime,  and 
was  perhaps  the  only  means  of  affording  protection  to  the 
weak  in  this  age  of  violence.  The  wer-gild  marks  an  im- 
portant advance  on  the  custom  of  blood-feud  prevailing  •  ■ 
among  the  Celts.  The  family  of  an  injured  man  was  still 
bound  to  exact  vengeance,  not,  however,  in  blood,  but  in 
silver.  The  law  determined  the  money  equivalent  of  the 
wrong;  the  king  enforced  the  penalty.  The  methods  used 
to  determine  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused  were 
still  primitive.  If  a  man  could  bring  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  neighbors  ^  to  swear  that  he  had  not  committed  the 
offence,  he  went  free.  Failing  this,  he  must  undergo  the 
ordeal,  appealing  to  God  to  vindicate  the  right. 

For  Literature.  —  Alfred  was  a  king  by  birth  and  a  soldier 

1  This  form  of  trial  was  known  as  "compurgation." 


46  Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 


Green, 

PP-  50-52. 


Alfred's  In- 
troduction to 
Pastoral 
Care. 


Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 


by  force  of  circumstances,  but  nature  intended  him  for  a  stu- 
dent. Not  all  the  engrossing  cares  and  anxieties  of  that  long 
struggle  with  the  Danes  could  thwart  his  scholar's  purpose. 
Asser  tells  us  that  it  was  the  king's  custom  "  both  night  and 
day  and  amid  his  many  other  occupations  of  mind  and 
body,  either  himself  to  read  books  or  to  listen  whilst  others 
read  them."  He  yearned  to  give  to  his  people  the  treasures 
of  knowledge  he  found  in  the  ancient  writings.  Under  the 
-ardent  impulse  lent  by  the  Irish  missionaries,  the  monas- 
teries of  Northumbria  had  been  centres  of  learning,  but  they 
had  suffered  severely  during  the  Danish  inroads.  Many 
houses  had  been  sacked  and  burned,  and  the  brethren 
scattered.  Knowledge  of  Latin,  the  literary  tongue,  had 
well-nigh  perished.  Alfred  writes  mournfully  of  the  lost 
books  and  treasures.  "  So  clean  was  learning  now  fallen  off 
among  the  English  race,  that  there  were  very  few  (priests) 
on  this  side  of  the  Humber  that  were  able  to  understand 
their  service  in  English,  or  even  to  turn  an  epistle  from  Latin 
into  English  ;  and  I  think  that  there  were  not  many  beyond 
the  Humber.  So  few  were  there  of  them  that  I  cannot 
think  of  even  one  south  of  the  Thames  when  I  first  took  the 
kingdom."  Alfred  did  what  he  could  to  repair  this  damage 
by  rebuilding  churches  and  convents  and  founding  schools. 
The  School  of  the  Angle  Race  at  Rome  was  "freed"  by 
Pope  Marinus,  at  his  request,  "from  all  tribute  and  tax.^' 
Learned  men  were  summoned  to  his  court  from  all  parts  of 
England,  from  Wales,  and  from  the  Continent.^ 

For  the  instruction  of  laymen  the  king  determined  to 
translate  into  Anglo-Saxon,  the  unlettered  speech  of  the 
people,  the  most  useful  books  he  knew.  The  Psalms,  Gos- 
pels, and  other  portions  of  the  Bible  had  been  already 
translated.-  Alfred  chose  the  Consolation  of  the  philoso- 
pher Boethius,  the  Pastoral  Care  of  Pope  Gregory,  the 
Universal  History  of  Orosius,   and  the  Ecelesiastical  His- 


^  e.g.  Plegmund,  an  Anglo-Saxon;    Asser,   a  Welshman;   Grimbald,  a 
Frank  ;    John  of  Saxony,  a  German. 
2  By  the  monks  of  Lindisfarne. 


Reconqnest  of  England  47 

tory  of  the  Venerable  Bede.  He  was  especially  desirous 
that  the  history  of  England  should  be  recorded  for  the  use 
of  future  generations.  Something  had  already  been  done 
in  the  rehgious  houses,  where  the  monks  had  set  down  the 
happenings  that  came  within  their  ken,  an  echpse  of  the 
moon,  a  miracle,  the  accession  of  a  king,  the  death  of  a 
saint.  But  Alfred  proposed  more  than  this.  Under  his 
inspiring  guidance  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle^  was  enlarged 
and  enriched  until  it  became  the  best  of  contemporary  his- 
tories. Far  more  important  than  the  immediate  ends  the 
king  had  in  view  was  the  ultimate  result  of  this  work.  His 
determination  to  use  the  vulgar  tongue  made  English  a 
Uterary  language.  His  translations  fixed  its  form  and  pre- 
served it  from  loss  in  the  troubled  centuries  that  were  to 
follow. 

For  Industry.  —  Alfred  showed  a  keen  concern  for  the 
material  interests  of  his  people,  and  not  a  few  imjiortant 
inventions  were  attributed  to  his  ingenuity.  He  planned 
and  built  not  ships  and  fortresses  alone,  but  churches  and 
palaces.  The  skilled  trades  were  encouraged,  and  he  taught 
"his  workers  of  gold  and  his  artificers  of  all  kinds"  how  to  Asser's  Z./^. 
improve  their  fabric.  As  soon  as  the  sea  was  cleared  of 
pirates,  trade  revived  and  commercial  relations  with  the 
Continent  were  reestablished.  The  king  received  embassies 
from  France,  from  Spain,  and  even  from  Jerusalem.  His 
daughter,  Ethelfoyth,  was  married  to  the  count  of  Flanders. 
The  aUiance  marks  the  beginning  of  a  fruitful  commerce 
between  England  and  the  Low  Countries. 


^( 


'Recoiiquesr~of  England.  —  Under  Edward  the  Elder 
(901-925),  the  worthy  son  of  Alfred,  East  Anglia,  Danish 
Mercia,  and  Essex  were  recovered  to  English  rule.  The  Green, 
king  was  ably  seconded  by  his  sister  Ethelflaeda,  the  valiant  P'''  ^"^"^  ' 
"Lady  of  Mercia."  Assuming  at  the  death  of  her  husband 
the  task  of  defending  the  English  frontier,  she  boldly  took 
the  offensive.     Making  a  sally  into  Wales,  she  carried  Breck- 

1  This  is  the  earliest  attempt  of  a  Teutonic  people  to  record  its  annals  in 
the  native  tonsrue. 


Anglo-Saxon  Relics  of  Gold  and  Bronze 


Reconqiiest  of  England 


49 


Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 


nock  by  storm.  Turning  against  the  Danes,  she  directed 
in  person  the  siege  of  Derby,  and  while  weeping  woman's 
tears  over  the  four  thegns  slain  within  the  gates,  made  her- 
self master  of  the  place.  The  Danish  "  army  "  at  Leicester 
swore  her  allegiance,  and  the  people  of  York  offered  to  sur- 
render their  city  to  her  keeping.  Slowly  but  surely  the 
English  forces  advanced  into  the  enemy's  country,  laying 
siege  to  their  fortresses,  driving  the  several  "  armies  "  from 
their  strongholds,  while  they  rebuilt  and  repeopled  the  cities 
that  had  been  ruined  in  the  war.^  Edward  was  welcomed 
as  a  deliverer  by  the  whole  English  population ;  especially 
did  the  peasantry  "seek  his  peace  and  his  protection." 

Disheartened  by  his  rapid  successes,  the  Danish  jarh  one 
after  another  gave  in  their  submission.  Even  the  Celts  recog- 
nized in  the  king  of  Wessex  the  champion  of  liberty.  In 
922  the  North  Welsh  acknowledged  his  supremacy;  two 
years  later  the  Scots  and  the  Welsh  of  Strathclyde  "  sought 
him  for  father  and  lord." 

The  successors  of  Edward  so  vigorously  maintained  the  West  Saxon 
West  Saxon  supremacy  that  when  Edgar  came  to  the  throne  supremacy. 
in  959  he  was  greeted  not  as  king  of  the  English  only,  but 
as  ruler  of  all  Britain.  Tradition  has  it  that  he  was  rowed 
upon  the  Dee  by  six  Celtic  chieftains.  Every  year  he  made 
a  tour  of  the  coasts  with  a  numerous  fleet.  The  reign  of 
Edgar,  "the  peaceful,"  marks  the  culmination  of  the  rule 
of  Wessex  and  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization.  The  king, 
with  his  able  archbishop,  Dunstan,  worked  to  secure  peace 
and  prosperity  to  the  land.  The  long  struggle  with  the 
Danes  had  at  last  done  away  with  the  tribal  distinctions 
that  divided  the  English,  and  the  ambition  of  rival  dynasties 
was  satisfied  by  grant  of  the  ealdorman's  office.  The  jeal- 
ousy of  Welsh  and  Danes  was  disarmed  by  concessions  to 
race  prejudice.  The  subjugated  peoples  were  governed  by  Cunning- 
rulers  of  their  own  blood,  and  in  accordance  with  their  an- 


cient customs.  The  Welsh  remained  Celts  and  alien,  retaining 


pp.  8-11. 


1  Some   thirty  places  were  restored  in  middle  England  by  the  valiant 
brother  and  sister. 
E 


50         Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 


Traill,  1, 
I 21-129. 


Source-Book, 
pp.  27-30. 


their  own  language  and  peculiar  tribal  organization  long 
after  they  submitted  to  English  overlordship.  The  funda- 
mental race  difference  between  Celt  and  Teuton  was  noi 
easily  obliterated.  With  the  Danes  it  was  otherwise.  They 
were  of  the  same  Norse  stock  as  the  Jutes  and  Angles,  and 
spoke  a  kindred  language.  They  had  accepted  Christianity 
with  English  rule,  and  as  they  settled  down  upon  the  land, 
they  soon  adopted  the  ways  and  speech  of  the  English 
inhabitants,  and  became  in  their  tiirn  enamoured  of  peace 
and  prosperity. 

Anglo-Saxon  Civilization.  —  The  original  English  settle- 
ments had  been  made  at  accessible  points  along  the  river- 
courses  where  a  fertile  soil  promised  sustenance,  or  near 
some  old  Roman  city  whose  decaying  walls  afforded  build- 
ing material.  The  barbarians  cherished  independence,  and 
their  villages  were  usually  surrounded  by  wide  stretches  of 
waste  land  or  forest.  Since  intercourse  with  the  outside 
world  was  difficult,  every  community  must  be  self-supporting. 

Agriculture.  —  Agriculture  was  the  prime  interest  to  which 
the  whole  working  force  of  the  village  was  at  first  devoted. 
The  fertile  lands  were  divided  into  acre  and  half-acre  strips 
and  assigned  to  the  several  families  for  tillage,  very  much  as 
is  still  done  in  the  Russian  commune.  Each  allotment  was 
separated  from  those  adjoining  by  turf-balks  or  hedges,  an 
arrangement  that  involved  much  waste  of  land  and  labor, 
but  seemed  the  best  way  of  securing  to  each  man  his  just 
share.  The  pastures  and  meadows  were  unfenced,  and 
every  proprietor  in  the  village  lands  had  mowing  and  graz- 
ing rights  therein.  Cattle  and  sheep  browsed  in  the  open, 
while  droves  of  swine  fed  on  nuts  and  roots  in  the  wood- 
land. The  beasts  were  cared  for  and  kept  from  straying 
into  the  tilled  fields,  or  getting  lost  in  the  forest,  by  men  and 
boys  detailed  for  that  service.  The  oxherds,  cowherds, 
swineherds,  and  shepherds,  who  looked  after  the  stock  of 
the  villagers,  were  maintained  at  common  charge.  On  thegns' 
estates  the  same  tasks  were  performed  by  serfs,  men  bound 
to  the  soil  and  forced  to  render  labor  service. 


Manufactures 


51 


Manufactures.  —  As  wants  increased,  new  industries  arose. 
Each  village  was  provided  with  craftsmen  skilled  in  certain 
trades,  —  carpenters  and  thatchers  to  build  the  houses,  wheel- 
wrights and  blacksmiths  to  set  up  ploughs  and  wagons,  shoe- 
wrights  and  saddlers  to  fashion  leather  goods.      Clothing 


rc'<t\  *  A 


Upright  Loom  from  the  Faroe  Islands 

Montelius,  The  Civilization  of  Sweden  i>i  Heathen  Times 


was  manufactured  largely  by  the  women,  who  spun  wool  and 
flax  with  spindle  and  distaff,  and  wove  cloth  of  gay  colors  on 
hand-looms.  In  the  towns,  some  relics  of  the  Roman  hand- 
icrafts may  have  lingered,  but  the  most  important  centres 
of  industry  were  the  monastic  establishments.  Here  the 
arts  that  might  enrich  and  dignify  the  ceremonial  of  worship 
were  fostered.     Glass-workers  were  brought  over  from  the 


^5>^ 


52  Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation 


Traill.I, 
201-209. 


Thorpe,  I, 
pp.  83,  119. 


Continent  to  fill  the  church  windows  with  radiant  light. 
Embroiderers  made  up  gorgeous  vestments,  and  gold-workers 
adorned  God's  altars  with  cross  and  image,  or  wrought  mar- 
vellous shrines  for  the  relics  of  the  saints.  The  first  Saxon 
churches  were  built  of  wood,  and  soon  perished  by  fire  or 
by  natural  decay.  Stone-work  was  not  introduced  till  the 
seventh  century,  when  the  Abbot  Benedict  undertook  to 
build  a  church  at  Jarrow  (680)  "  in  the  Roman  manner," 
and  sought  masons  in  France. 

Trade.  —  The  revival  of  industries  and  the  growing  de- 
mand for  luxuries  served  to  promote  trade.  Many  articles 
that  could  not  be  produced  at  home,  such  as  salt,  spices,  fine 
cloth,  iron,  millstones,  must  be  brought  from  a  distance. 
Merchants  made  their  way  up  the  river-courses  to  the  valley 
settlements,  and  then  by  the  long-disused  streets  into  the 
interior.  Market  towns  were  rebuilt  at  the  cross-ways  and 
by  the  river-fords,'  while  at  the  saints'  shrines,  where  men 
gathered  on  feast  days,  great  fairs  were  held.  Commerce 
over-sea,  interrupted  by  the  centuries  of  warfare,  revived 
with  the  interval  of  peace  secured  by  the  successors  of 
Alfred.  Gloucester  was  the  meeting-place  of  Welsh  and 
EngUsh  merchants,  Bristol  and  Chester  divided  the  Irish 
trade,  Exeter  and  the  southern  ports  were  in  direct  com- 
munication with  France.  Norwich,  Dunwich,  Ipswich,  and 
especially  London,  secured  the  Channel  traffic.  Commerce 
brought  increase  of  wealth  and  population  to  the  towns. 
The  thirty  towns  of  Alfred's  day  had  become  eighty,  with 
two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  by  the  eleventh  century. 
The  later  Anglo-Saxon  kings  offered  every  encouragement 
to  commerce.  Ample  protection  was  afforded  to  strange 
"chapmen"  sojourning  in  the  land,  and  Englishmen  were 
incited  to  engage  in  foreign  trade  by  the  law  providing  that 
"  every  merchant  who  fares  thrice  across  the  wide  sea  at  his 
own  cost  is  of  thegnright  worthy." 

Britain  exported,  as  in  Roman  days,  cattle  and  grain,  tin 
and  lead,  horses  and  slaves.     The  addition  of  certain  manu- 


^e.g.  Cambridge  and  Oxford. 


jreen, 


Political  Organization  53 

factured  articles,  as  gold-work  and  embroidery,  indicates  that 
considerable  industrial  advance  had  been  made  in  spite  of 
five  centuries  of  well-nigh  perpetual  war.     The  slaves  were 
for  the  most  part  the  conquered  Welsh,  but  there  is  evi- 
dence that  the  slave-trader  did  not  eschew  English  blood. 
The  boys  on  sale  in  the  Roman  market  who  attracted  the 
pitying  attention  of  Pope  Gregory  were  Angles  from  Deira. 
Five  centuries  later  the  biographer  of  Wulfstan  records  that 
"  The  people  of  Bristol  had  an  odious  and  inveterate  custom 
of  buying  men  and  women  in  all   parts    of  England,  and 
exporting  them  to  Ireland  for  gain."     The  church  used  its 
influence  to  discourage  slavery.     St.  Patrick  condemned  the   Gr 
practice  of  selling  Christians  to  the  pagan  English,  and  the   pp- 58,59- 
laws  of  Ine   (688-728)  forbade  that  "  Christian  men  and   Thorpe, 
uncondemned  be  sold  out  of  the  country,  especially  into  a  ^'^'  "*'''  "'" 
heathen  nation." 

Political    Organization.  —  The    Anglo-Saxon    system    of  Tmii,  i, 
government  came  to    its    full    development    under    Edgar,   pp-  134-1-10.    . 
The  king  had  become  the  supreme  authority,  not  only  in  L/«- 

military  but  in  civil  aifairs.     He   presided  in  the  Witenage-  Jt/     , 

mot,  the  assembly  of  wise  men  (thegns,  ealdormen,  and  bish-      [j  (y    \  r*-^ 
ops),  summoned  to  advise  the  king  and  to  legislate  for  the   /AmI[>^  /^ 
realm.     The  kingdom  was  grown  too  extensive  for  the  assem-  M    .jJt  15/ 
bly  of  the  whole  body  of  freemen  as  in  the  ancient  folk  moot. 
The  troubled  years  of  the  Danish  invasions  had  witnessed  a   Commenda- 
decline  in  the  status  of  the  ceorl  or  small  landowner.     Unable   t^o"- 
to  defend  his  possessions    single-handed,  he    was    fain    to 
attach  himself  to  the  military  leader  of  his  neighborhood, 
surrendering  somewhat    of   his    personal   independence    in 
return  for  the  promised  protection.     By  Edgar's   law,  the 
practice  was  made  obligatory.     Every  man  below  the  rank 
of  thegn  must  find  himself  a  lord  who  should  be  responsible 
for  him. 

A  considerable  degree  of  popular  government  persisted 
side  by  side  with  the  growth  of  the  roval  authority.  Every 
village  had  its  tiingemot,  where  the  heads  of  houses  met  to 
determine  affairs  of  common  interest,  the  number  of  cattle 


54  Race  E/cjNcnts  of  tJic  English  Nation 

each  man  might  turn  into  the  common  pasture,  the  time  when 
the  hay  should  be  cut  or  the  corn-fields  reaped.  Each  tun 
sent  its  reeve  and  four  best  men  to  the  hundred  court,  where 
minor  offences  and  disputes  between  men  of  the  hundred  were 
dealt  with.  The  same  representatives  met  in  the  shire-court 
with  the  greater  folk  of  the  county,  and  there  more  serious  of- 
fences and  cases  appealed  from  the  hundred  court  were  tried 
in  the  presence  of  the  ealdorman,  the  bishop,  and  the  king's 
reeve. 


Glass  Vases 

De  Baye,  Industrial  Arts  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 


Important  Events 

The  Roman  Occupation,  43-41  i  a.d 

Caesar  invades  Britain,  55  and  54  b  c 

Agricola  conquers  Britain,  78-84  ad. 

Honorius  abandons  the  province,  411  a.d. 
The  Saxon  Conquest,  449-607  a.d. 

The  Jutes  take  possession  of  Kent,  449  +  . 

The  Saxons  take  possession  of  Sussex,  Wessex,  Essex,  477  +  . 

The  Angles  take  possession  of  Northumbria,  East  Anglia. 
Lindiswara,  Mercia. 

The  Britons  are  defeated  at  Old  Sarum,  552;  at  Deorham, 
577  5  at  Chester,  607. 


hnportant  Events  55 

The  Triumph  of  Christianity. 

Monastery  at  lona  founded  by  Columba,  565. 
Ethelbert  of  Kent  converted  by  Augustine.  597. 
Edwin  of  Northumbria  converted  by  Paulinus,  627. 
West  Saxons  converted  by  Birinus,  635. 
Peada  of  Mercia  accepts  Christianity,  655. 
The  Roman  ritual  is  adopted,  664. 
Theodore,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  668-690. 
South  Saxons  converted  by  Wilfrid,  681. 

The  Strong  Kings  of  Wessex. 

Egbert  attains  to  overlordship,  802-839. 
Alfred  establishes  a  kingdom,  871-901. 
Edward  recovers  lost  territories,  901-925. 
Edgar,  the  Peaceful,  emperor  of  Britain,  959-975. 

Saxon  Elements  in  the  People  and  Institutions  of  England. 
Dominant  race  element. 

Framework  and  most  essential  portions  of  the  language. 
The  common  law. 

Conception  and  form  of  local  self-government. 
National  characteristics  of  independence  and  pertinacity. 


Johnson, 
pp.  1-14. 


CHAPTER    III 

FOREIGN   RULE 
Books   for   Consultation 

Sources 


Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle. 


Special  Authorities 

Oman,  England,  from  the  Beginning  to  1066. 

Davis,  England  from  lobb  to  12^2,  ch.  I,  II,  III,  IV,  V. 

Hodgkin,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  I,  ch.  XXV,  XXVI. 

Adams,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol,  II,  ch.  I-XII. 

Anderson,  Norse  Mythology. 

Johnson,  Normans  in  Europe. 

Church,  St.  Anselm. 

Freeman,  Norman  Conquest,  abridged  edition. 

Maitland,  Domesday  and  Beyond. 

Imaginative  Literature 

Young,  The  Little  Duke. 

Bulwer,  Harold  the  Last  of  the  Saxon  Kings. 

Kingsley,  Hereward  the  Wake,  the  Last  of  the  English. 

Tennyson,  Harold. 

Rossetti,   The  White  Ship. 

Migrations  of  the  Northmen.  —  Little  is  known  of  the 
early  history  of  the  Scandinavian  peninsulas  whence  came 
the  conquerors  of  England.  To  the  Saxon  chronicler,  re- 
counting the  long  and  losing  struggle  against  the  Danes,  the 
invaders  are  wild  barbarians  for  whom  no  epithet  is  too 
scathing.  They  are  "wolves,"  "foxes,"  "pagans,"  "chil- 
dren of  Satan,"  Yet  the  Scandinavians  were  near  of  kin  to 
the  English  and  possessed  the  best  characteristics  of  the 
Teuton  inheritance.     The  bitter  struggle  for  existence  in  a 

56 


Norfnandy  '  57 

land  that  is  one-third  water  and  one-third  mountain,  and 
where  winter  lasts  six  months  of  the  year,  had  bred  in  them 
endurance,  ingenuity,  and  daring.  In  the  course  of  the 
ninth  century  the  people  seem  to  have  grown  too  numerous 
for  the  resources  of  the  scant  coast-lands,  and  the  more 
enterprising  spirits  set  out  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  the  richer 
realms  to  the  south.  The  results  of  that  exodus  were  mo-  Johnson, 
mentous.  We  have  seen  how  the  Danes  possessed  them-  PP-  ^5-3i 
selves  of  northern  England.  In  like  manner  Swedish 
war-bands  ravaged  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  and,  making 
their  way  inland  to  Novgorod  and  to  Kiev,  founded  the 
ancient  dynasty  of  Russia.  The  Norwegians,  on  the  other 
hand,  pushed  westward  and  possessed  themselves  of  the  out- 
lying islands  of  the  Atlantic.  The  Orkneys,  the  Shetlands, 
and  the  north  coast  of  Scotland  formed  a  viking  kingdom 
that  was  held  in  fief  of  Norway  until  the  fourteenth  century. 
Farther  west,  the  Hebrides,  the  Isle  of  Man,  Anglesea,  and 
the  neighboring  Scotch  and  Irish  shores  were  united  in  a 
maritime  empire  whose  valiant  princes^  held  their  own 
until,  in  1281,  their  dominions  were  annexed  to  Scotland. 

Continental  Settlements.  —  Throughout  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries,  France  and  Germany  were  ravaged  by  Norse 
pirates.  The  Rhine,  the  Elbe,  the  Scheldt,  the  Seine,  and 
the  Loire  were  the  open  highways  by  which  the  black  keels 
of  the  barbarians  made  their  way  to  the  rich  farm  lands  and 
populous  cities  of  the  interior.  Smoking  houses  and  bloody  Johnson, 
battlefields  marked  their  track.  Legend  records  that  the  PP*  S^-SS 
great  Charlemagne  gazed  ruefully  upon  their  swift  craft  and 
predicted  the  ruin  of  his  empire.^  In  the  Litany  service 
the  terrified  clergy  inserted  a  special  prayer,  "  From  the  fury 
of  the  Northmen,  save  us,  Lord." 

Normandy.  —  As  in  England,  so  on  the   Continent,  the 
war-bands,  coming  at  first  for  booty,  soon  sought  permanent  Green, 
homes.     Numerous  scattered  settlements  along   the  rivers   VV-T^-l\ 
of  Gaul  may  still  be  traced  in  local  terminology.     The  most 

1  Tlie  Lords  of  the  Isles. 

2  So  the  monk  of  St.  Gall. 


1        '        ^ 

MIGRATrONS    OFTHE 


NOllTIIMEN 


10'        I.unpitude 


Greenwich  30° 


BOfiMAr    ENbfiAVIN 


Normandy  59 

fmportant  conquest  made  on  the  Continent,  and  the  only 
one   where    the    Norse    retained    race    integrity,    was   the 
domain  of  Rollo   the    Ganger,^  on   the  west   coast.     This  Johnson, 
mighty   warrior   succeeded    in   wresting   from   Charles  the   PP-35-37> 
Simple,  the  degenerate    descendant   of  Charlemagne    and 
king  of  the  West  Franks,  a  grant  of  the  strip  of  territory  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Seine  called   thereafter   Normandy.     As 
duke  of  the  Normans,  the  conqueror   swore  fealty  to  the 
Prankish  king  and  became  his  trusty  vassal.     Once  recog- 
nized as  a  peer  ^  of  France,   Rollo  accepted  Christianity, 
married  a  French  princess,  and  set  about  governing  his  new 
subjects  with  such  discretion  that  the  whilom  pirate  became 
known  as  the  father  of  his  people.     The  lands  were  divided 
among  his  followers  as  spoils  of  conquest.^     Thus  the  war- 
riors  became   vassals   of  the   duke,   holding  their   estates 
under  obligation  to  military  service,  while  the  natives,  being 
regarded  as  a  subject  race,  were  treated  as  serfs.     At  first  Johnson, 
the  Norse  Vikings  despised  the  Romanized  and  degenerate  Sg^^f) 
Franks.     Absorbed  in  hunting  and  feasting,  in  making  war  Middle  Ages 
upon  a  neighboring  lord  to  extend  a  boundary  or  upon  the  P-  ^58. 
duke   to  resist  a   claim,  they  contemptuously   declined    to 
concern  themselves  with  such  slave's  business  as  agriculture 
and  the  arts.     Yet  gradually  the  superior  civilization  gained 
influence  over   the    conquerors.      They   married    Frankish 

1  The  Norman  dukes  :  — 

Rollo  the  Ganger,  912-927 

I 
William  Longsword,  927  ?-943 

I 
Richard  the  Fearless,  943-996 


Richard  II,  the  Good,  996-1026        Emma,  m.  Ethelred  of  England 


I  I 

Richard  III,  1026-1028        Robert,  1028-1035 

I 
William  I,  1035-1087 

2  Peers  {pares)  were  vassals  of  the  same  suzerain,  holding  fiefs  of  land 
in  his  domain  of  equal  rank. 

3  Literally  "  roped  out." 


6o 


Foreign  Rule 


Green, 

pp.  59-64. 


Anglo-Saxon, 
Chronicle. 

Ethelred  the 
Unready. 


Source-Book, 
pp.  30-34. 


women  and  adopted  Prankish  customs,  they  learned  the 
Franco-Latin  language  with  such  facility  that  the  grandson 
of  Rollo  could  be  taught  to  speak  Scandinavian  only  at 
Bayeux.  F_^ntering  the  awe-inspiring  Christian  churches, 
they  forswore  the  fierce  gods  of  their  ancestors.  They 
came  under  the  sway  of  the  clergy  and  received  at  their 
hands  not  only  a  purer  religion  and  a  higher  morality  than 
Norse  mythology  taught  them,  but  the  conceptions  of  right 
and  order  preserved  in  the  Roman  law,  the  traditions  of 
learning  and  literature  treasured  in  the  monasteries.  So 
it  followed  that  within  the  century  after  the  conquest,  the 
wild  Northmen  became  essentially  French.  While  losing 
nothing  of  their  original  valor  and  energy,  they  assimilated 
with  marvellous  readiness  the  best  elements  in  the  civiliza- 
titJn  of  the  conquered  race. 

The  Danes  in  England.  —  Meantime,  across  the  Channel, 
other  Norse  vikings  were  mastering  a  kingdom.  The  re- 
newal of  the  Danish  invasions  began  in  981  with  an  attack 
on  Southampton.  For  the  next  thirty  years  "  armies  "  from 
the  north  harried  the  English  coast,  burning  the  towns  and 
slaughtering  the  inhabitants.  Not  infrequently  the  North- 
men forced  the  terrified  people  to  provide  them  with  horses, 
and  sweeping  far  into  the  interior,  plundered  and  killed  and 
did  "unspeakable  evil."  They  met  with  little  concerted 
resistance.  The  good  days  of  Alfred  and  Edward  were 
past.  Ethelred  the  Unready,^  the  degenerate  son  of  Edgar, 
was  not  equal  to  the  emergency.  He  could  not  rally  the 
English  to  unite  against  the  foe.  Each  shire  preferred  to 
fight  its  own  battle,  and  the  national  force,  the  fyrd,  was 
with  difficulty  induced  to  remain  under  arms  over  the  har- 
vest. The  ealdormen  who  should  have  led  their  troops  to 
the  defence  of  the  realm  were  jealous  of  each  other  and 
disloyal  to  the  king.  Again  and  again  did  a  commander 
betray  his  trust  on  the  very  eve  of  battle.  The  Chronicle 
tells  a  tale  of  shame.  "  And  forces  were  often  gathered 
against  the  Danes,  but  as  soon  as  they  should  have  joined 

1  The  old  English  term  is  "  reckless,"  i.e.  lacking  in  counsel. 


4^  CSn 


Shetland     ^' 


0       Longitude  West      4"    from  Greenwich 


FROM  TAYLOR'S  WORDS  AND  PLACES 


62 


Foreign  Rule 


The 
Danegeld. 


Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 


Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 


Green, 

pp.  65-6;. 


battle,  then  was  there  ever,  through  some  cause,  flight 
begun."  London  alone  offered  strenuous  resistance.  The 
citizens  stood  bravely  by  their  defences  even  when  beset  by 
the  whole  Danish  army,  and  their  strong  walls  afforded 
refuge  to  the  king  himself.  Unable  to  defend  his  realm  by 
force  of  arms,  Ethelred  was  fein  to  purchase  an  inglorious 
peace.^  Five  times  in  twenty  years  was  tribute  paid  to  the 
army,  and  that  in  sums  which  taxed  all  the  resources  of  the 
nation.  "And  nevertheless,  for  all  the  truce  and  tribute, 
they  went  everywhere  in  bands  and  plundered  our  miserable 
people  and  robbed  and  slew  them."  Swegen,  the  Norse 
leader,  was  bent  on  conquering  a  kingdom.  The  northern 
districts  (Northumbria,  Lindsey,  and  the  five  boroughs) 
were  still  Danish  in  blood  and  feeling,  and  readily  submitted 
(1013).  South  of  Watling  Street,  there  was  further  fighting, 
but  the  strong  cities  surrendered  one  by  one,  the  ealdormen 
and  leading  thegns  went  over  to  Swegen,  and  finally  "  all  the 
people  held  him  for  full  king."  Not  till  every  hope  of  suc- 
cess had  failed  did  the  citizens  of  London  yield  (1013). 
After  that,  King  Ethelred  fled  over-sea  to  Richard,  Duke 
of  Normandy,  whose  sister  Emma  he  had  wedded.^ 

The  Reign  of  Canute.  —  In  1014  Swegen  died,  and  the 
strife  broke  out  afresh,  for  the  Danes  chose  his  son  Canute 
as  king,  while  the  VVitan  and  the  English  declared  for  Ethel- 
red.    The   house  of  Cerdic   found  a  worthy  champion  in 


1  The  Danegeld  was  levied  in  991,  ^10,000;  in  994,  /'i6,ooo;  in  1002, 
;^24,ooo;  in  1007,  ;^36,ooo;  in  loii,  ^48,000;  in  1014,  _^2i,ooo;  money 
had  at  that  time  twenty  times  its  present  value. 

2Saxon  Princess,  m.      Ethelred,  m.  Emma  of  Normandy 
name  uncertain  |      | 


Edmund  Ironside. 


Edward  the  Confessor 


Edmund 


Edward 


Edgar  Atheling 


Margaret,  m.  king  of  Scots 

I 
Matilda,  m.  Henry  I 


Renewed  Strife 


63 


Edmund  Ironside.     Six  pitched  battles  were  fought  in  seven 

months,  and  in  four  the  Enghsh  were  victorious,  but  at  the 

last  great  battle  of  Assingdun  (1016)  the  treachery  of  Edric,   Assingdun, 

the  ealdorman,  lost  the  day.     Then  the  wise  men  counselled   ^^^*^- 

a  compromise,  for  the  land  was  exhausted  by  civil  strife. 

Edmund  was  to  reign  in  Wessex,  the  kingdom  of  Egbert, 

while  to   Canute  was  conceded  Mercia  and  the  north.     A 

few  days  after  peace  had  been  declared  Edmund  was  foully 

assassinated  by  the  same  Edric  who  had  fled  from  the  field 

at  Assingdun,  and  Canute  fell  heir  to  the  whole  kingdom. 

Peace  Policy  of  Canute.  —  Canute  had  waged  war  like  a  source-Book, 
barbarian,  but  he  ruled  England  as  a  Christian  king.     The  pp- 35-38. 
plundering  army  of  freebooters  was  sent  back  to  Denmark, 
and  the  alien  monarch  retained  for  his  defence  only  a  body- 
guard  of  several   thousand   liuscarls}       A  general  amnesty   Anglo-Saxoti 
was  declared,  and  it  was  agreed  that  all  the  people,  Danes    Chronicle. 
and  English  alike,  were  to  "  live  under  Edgar's  law."     The 
administration  of  the  several  divisions  of  the  kingdom  was 
assigned    to  earls    appointed  without    distinction    of   race.'-^ 
That  his  was  a  foreign  rule  was  made  evident,  however,  in 
the  heavy  tribute  im]")Osed.     In  10 1 8,  for  example,  the  king 
required  ^72,000  from  the  realm.    The  city  of  London  alone 
was  forced  to  pay  _;^io,50o.     Canute's  marriage  with  Emma, 
the  widow  of  Ethelred,  established  a  useful  connection,  not 
only  with  the  fallen  dynasty,  but  witli   the  house  of  Rollo 
and  the  powerful  duchy  across  the  Channel.      The  realm 
of  Canute  had  now  attained  imperial  dimensions.     Denmark 
and  Norway  acknowledged  his  sovereignty,  while  the  king 
of  Scots  (1031)  renewed  the  oath  of  homage  first  given  to 
Edward  the  Elder. 

. Renewed  Strife.  —  Canute's  empire  fell  to  pieces  at  his   Green, 

death.     His  sons,  Harold  and   Harthacanute,  disputed  the    PP- ^7-7o- 
succession,  and  the  unhappy  land  was  once  again  plunged 
into  civil  war.     There  was  little  to  choose  between  the  two 
princes.     Both  proved  themselves  cruel  and  oppressive  be- 

1  Huscarls  (house-men),  the  king's  mercenary  troops. 

2  For  the  old  title  of  ealdorman  is  now  substituted  the  Danish  term,  earl. 


64 


Foreign  Rule 


Johnson, 

pp.   IIS-I22. 


Godwin. 


Harold. 


Anglo-Saxon 

Chronicle 

1052. 


yond  precedent  and  imposed  heavy  taxes  for  the  support 
of  the  Danish  troops.  Thus,  when  Harthacanute  died 
and  Prince  Edward,  son  of  Ethelred  and  Emma,  came 
forward  to  claim  the  throne,  he  was  received  with  joy  and 
crowned  king  forthwith.  The  rejoicing  was  premature. 
Edward,  called  the  Confessor,  because  of  his  piety,  proved 
but  a  feeble  king.  Educated  at  the  court  of  Rouen,  he  was 
more  French  than  English  and  brought  with  him  to  Eng- 
land a  crowd  of  Norman  priests  and  nobles.  The  difficul- 
ties of  the  reign  were  largely  due  to  this  foreign  influence 
at  court.  Edward  owed  his  crown  to  Godwin,  Earl  of 
Wessex,  the  stalwart  champion  of  the  English.  In  return, 
the  king  married  Edgitha,  the  daughter  of  the  great  earl, 
and  placed  his  sons  in  the  chief  offices.  Godwin  was  able 
and  patriotic,  but  he  was  only  foremost  of  the  earls.  None 
but  a  strong  king  could  unite  the  warring  factions  and  give 
peace  to  the  realm.  In  the  absence  of  such  a  master,  the 
kingdom  was  rent  by  civil  strife.  The  lesser  earls  raised 
frequent  pretexts  for  revolt,  and  such  rebels  against  the  royal 
authority  found  ready  help  in  Wales  and  Ireland,  among  the 
ever  hostile  Celts.  Norse  pirates  pillaged  the  coast  towns, 
taking  enormous  booty  which  they  carried  over  to  Bruges 
for  sale.  The  Norman  courtiers  preyed  upon  the  land,  in 
their  more  civilized  fashion,  demanding  entertainment  at  the 
hands  of  the  English  as  from  a  subject  people.  Far  from 
rebuking  his  favorites,  the  king  countenanced  their  misdeeds. 
Finally,  in  105 1,  Godwin  and  his  sons  were  forced  to  flee 
the  kingdom,  and  Lady  Edgitha  was  driven  from  the  court. 
In  the  year  following,  the  great  earl  returned  to  claim  his 
own.  The  English  party  was  strong  in  the  south,  and  the 
seaports  of  Kent  and  Sussex  and  Surrey  sent  their  sailor-folk 
to  join  Earl  Godwin's  fleet.  From  the  west  came  his  valiant 
son  Harold  with  Irish  ships.  Accompanied  by  a  great  force, 
the  outraged  earl  sailed  up  the  river  to  London.  There  he 
found  the  king's  troops  marshalled  on  the  strand,  but  the  an- 
ticipated battle  did  not  take  place.  The  leaders  were  struck 
by  a  sudden  shame.     Why  should  Englishmen  slay  English' 


BORMAY  &  CO.,Et1<3R>5,r 


66 


Foreign  Rule 


men  when  aliens  threatened  the  realm?  The  wise  men 
arranged  a  reconciliation.  Godwin's  family  was  reinstated, 
and  all  the  Frenchmen  who  had  given  evil  counsel  to  the 
king  were  sent  over-sea. 

Hardly  had  this  hopeful  peace  been  attained  when  the 
great  earl  died.  Harold  succeeded  to  his  earldom  and 
to  his  perplexities.  Godwin's  son  Tostig  had  been  ap- 
pointed Earl  of  Northumbria,  but  he  was  unequal  to  the 
government  of  that  turbulent  land.  The  Danish  thanes 
declared  him  an  outlaw  and  chose  Morcar,  a  Mercian,  in 


Harold  and  his  Courtiers 

From  the  Bayeux  tapestry 


his  stead.  Hopeless  of  reinstating  him,  the  king  yielded 
(1065)  to  the  demands  of  the  insurgents.  Tostig  fled  to 
Bruges,  where  he  was  cordially  received  by  that  friend  of 
the  malcontents,  Count  Baldwin  of  Handers.  With  all 
these  evils  Harold  strove  as  best  he  might,  and  proved 
himself  so  valiant  in  the  field  and  so  wise  in  council  that 
when  Edward  died  childless  (January  5,  1066)  the  Witan 
chose  the  son  of  Godwin  to  succeed  him. 

The  Disputed  Succession.  —  Harold  was  not  of  the  royal 
line,  but  he  was,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Witan,  the  fittest 
man  to  reign.  Although  Edgar  Atheling,  grandson  of 
Edmund  Ironside,  might  claim  the  crown  by  hereditary 
right,  no  voice  was  raised  in  his  behalf.  The  election  was, 
however,    protested    from    across    the    Channel.      William, 


TJie  Co7iqiicst 


67 


Duke  of  Normandy,  grand-nephew   of  Emma,    demanded   Johnson, 
the    succession.      His    claims  were  various.      Edward    had   \^^^l~l^' 
promised  to  make  his  Norman  cousin  heir  to  the  crown  ;   Green, 
Harold,  wrecked  on  the  Frencli  coast  and    delivered  into    pp.  74-81. 
the  hands  of  his  rival,  had  sworn  on  the  sacred  relics  to 
surrender  all  rights  to  the  throne  ;  finally  the  Pope,  offended 
by  English  disregard  of  pontifical  rights,^  and  persuaded  that 
William  was  a  faithful    son  of  the  church,  sanctioned   his 
succession  and  sent  a  consecrated   banner   to    further   the 
crusade  against  the  impious  oath-breaker.     The  choice  of 
the  Witan  was  worth  more  than  all  these  arguments;  but 
William's  right,  as  justified  by  the  event,  was  not  Edward's 
promise,  nor  Harold's  oath,  nor  yet  the  papal  blessing,  but 
the  ability  to  govern  with  a  strong  hand  this  kingdom  long 
wasted  by  civil  war. 

Harold  was  a  brave  and  loyal  Englishman,  but  he  could   Source-Book, 
not  induce  the  warring  earls  to  unite  against  the  invader.   PP-  39-4i. 
At  the  very  time  when  the  king  with  a  great  force  of  men 
and  ships  was  awaiting  the  advent  of  the  Normans  on  the 
south  coast,  Tostig,  the  banished  brother  of  the  king,  hav- 
ing found  allies  in  Scotland  and  Norway,  sailed  up  the  Hum- 
ber  and  attacked  the  northern  earls.     The  king  was  obliged 
to  march  north  in  their  defence ;    and,  though  Tostig  was 
slain  at  Stamford  Bridge  (September  20,  1066)  and  his  army 
put  to  flight,  the  batde  proved  the  ruin  of  the  English.     Hur- 
rying south  again  with  a  weakened  force,  Harold  found  the 
Normans  disembarked  at  Hastings.     His  foot-soldiers  were 
no  match  for  William's  cavalry.     In  the  wild  rout  of  Senlac   Seniac,  1066, 
Hill  (October  14,  1066),  Harold  and  his  brothers  were  slain, 
and  the  cause  of  the  English  was  lost. 

The  Conquest.  —  Not  yet,  however,  was  the  kingdom  won. 
The  Duke  of  Normandy  had  still  to  reckon  with  the  Eng- 
lish people.  When  the  news  of  Harold's  defeat  reached 
London,  the  Witan  assembled  and  elected  Edgar  Atheling 
king.     ReaHzing  that  a  show  of  force  was  necessary,  William 

1  Harold  opposed  the  growing  power  of  the  monks,  and  his  Archbishop 
Stigand  recognized  the  authority  of  an  anti-pope. 


William's  Fleet  crossing  the  Channel 


Flight  of  the  English 

Cuts  from  the  Bayeux  Tapestry 


The  Conquest 


69 


marched  through  Kent  and  Sussex,  ravaging  the  lands  of 
those  who  opposed  him,  up  to  the  very  gates  of  London, 
He  hesitated  to  lay  siege  to  the  city,  for  he  wished  to  pre- 
sent himself  not  as  conqueror  but  as  rightful  successor  to 
the  crown.  His  forbearance  was  soon  justified.  The  citi- 
zens of  London,  seeing  that  the  northern  earls  made  no 
movement  in  their  behalf,  opened  the  gates  to  the  Norman 
and  went  through  the  form  of  electing  him  king.  William 
was  crowned  on  Christmas  Day,  1066,  in  the  beautiful  abbey 
built  by  the  Confessor  at  Westminster.^  He  took  oath  to 
"  govern  the  English  people  as  well  as  any  king  before  him  Anglo-Saxon 
had  best  done,  if  they  would  be  faithful  to  him."  William  Chronicle. 
doubtless  meant  what  he  said.  If  the  pledge  was  later 
broken  and  he  showed  himself  stern,  masterful,  and  indif- 
ferent to  the  suffering  wrought  by  his  soldiers,  it  was  because 
the  English  revolted  against  his  authority. 

When  William  was  crowned  king,  only  the  southeastern   Green, 
shires  acknowledged  his  right  to  reign.    The  west  and  north   ^^'   ^    ^' 
held  out  for  Edgar.     The  Danelagh  was  difficult  to  subdue, 
and  now,  as  many  times  before  and  after,  resistance  was  re- 
enforced  by  the  restless  Welsh  and  Scots.     For  the  better 
defence  of  his  kingdom,  William  established  viceregal  juris- 
dictions in  the  disaffected  districts,  where  his  most  trusted 
friends  were  placed  in  authority.      Thus  his  half-brother, 
Odo,  was  made  Earl  of  Kent,  that  he  might  be  enabled  to 
ward  off  attacks  from  across  the  Channel.     Fitz-Osborn  was 
made  Earl  of  Hereford,  and  he,  with  the  Earls  of  Chester 
and  Shrewsbury,  was    expected  to    hold  Wales   in  check.^ 
Durham  was  the  seat  of  a  fifth  great  earldom  which  served 
as  bulwark  against  interference  from  the  north.     The  subju-   Traill,  I, 
gation  of  the  rebellious  English  occupied  the  years  from  1067   ^3i-235' 
to  1070.     Mercia  and  Northumbria  were  reduced  to  submis- 
sion only  by  the  severest  measures.    The  insurgent  districts 

1  Henceforth  the  kings  of  England  were  regularly  crowned  at  West- 
minster. 

-  Many  lesser  men  obtained  royal  license  to  conquer  lands  from  the 
Welsh,  and  establishing  themselves  in  strongholds  along  the  border,  be- 
came Known  as  the  Lord  Marchers. 


70  *  Fojrign  Rule 

were  punished  (1069)  for  their  loyalty  to  the  English  earls, 
by  what  was  long  remembered  as  the  "  wasting  of  the  North." 
William  gave  orders  that  the  land  should  be  ravaged  by  fire 
and  sword.  Cities  and  villages  were  reduced  to  ashes  and 
the  crops  destroyed.  The  helpless  inhabitants  were  slaugh- 
tered or  left  to  die  of  starvation.  For  fifty  years  to  come, 
Yorkshire  remained  a  wilderness.  The  wasted  coast  offered 
no  booty  to  pirates,  and  the  Danish  invasions  finally  ceased. 

The  fame  of  Norman  cruelty  and  Norman  prowess  pre- 
ceded the  king  even  to  the  frontiers  of  his  terrified  kingdom. 
Chester  and  the  Welsh  border  submitted  after  brief  resist- 
ance, and  Malcolm,  king  of  Scotland,  acknowledged  William 
as  his  overlord  (1072). 

The  unhappy  Edgar  took  refuge  at  Edinburgh  together 
with  many  other  English  refugees.  The  marriage  of  his 
sister  Margaret  to  King  Malcolm  marks  the  beginning  of  a 
strong  English  influence  at  the  court  of  Scotland.  Hence- 
forth Lothian,^  originally  a  part  of  Northumbria  and  still 
largely  Saxon  in  blood  and  speech,  made  rapid  advance  in 
civilization.  The  Higlilands  remained  pure  Celt,  each  clan 
loyal  to  its  own  chieftain. 

The  last  stubborn  stronghold  of  the  English  resistance 
was  the  Isle  of  Ely,  lying  inaccessible  in  the  heart  of  the  Fens. 
Here  the  Saxon  malcontents  rallied  under  the  leadership 
of  Herevvard  the  Wake,  who  defended  his  island  fortress 
with  desperate  but  unavailing  courage. 

Reign  of  William  I  (1066-1087).  —  The  people  so  con- 
quered must  now  be  held  in  subjection.  In  the  task  of 
governing  his  newly  acquired  kingdom,  William  proved 
himself  preeminent  in  statecraft  as  he  had  hitherto  been  in 
war.  He  was  most  desirous  of  ruling  as  a  lawful  English 
sovereign,  but  the  chaotic  condition  of  the  country  neces- 
sitated a  method  of  government  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
from  a  military  occupation.  The  estates  of  the  vanquished 
Saxon  thanes  were  confiscated  and  made  over  to  the  Nor- 

1  The  moorland  country  lying  north  of  Tweed  and  south  of  the  Firth  of 
Forth. 


Reign  of  Wiiliajn  I 


71 


man  nobles,  whose  interests  were  identified  with  the  interest 
of  the  king,  and  who  could  be  relied  upon  to  crush  any 
incipient  revolt  on  the  part  of  the  English.  Some  twenty 
thousand  Frenchmen  thus  stepped  into  the  places  of  as 
many  Saxon  landowners.     William   further  guaranteed  his 


Tower  of  London 


authority  against  Saxon  and  Norman  alike  by  building,  in 
all  the  principal  towns,  castles  which  he  garrisoned  with  his 
own  men.  Many  of  these  are  still  standing,  notably  the 
strong  Tower  of  London. 

The  Conqueror  meant  that  the  royal  authority  should  be 


72  Foreign  Rule 

supreme  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  Eng- 
land had  known  no  such  kingship,  not  even  in  the  days  of 
Edgar.  The  great  thanes,  assembled  in  the  Witan,  had  been 
accustomed  to  make  laws  for  the  nation,  having  power  to 
elect  and  even  to  depose  the  king,  but  William  and  his  suc- 
cessors rejected  the  Anglo-Saxon  type  of  monarchy.  In  their 
interpretation  the  king  was  not  the  elected  leader  and  repre- 
sentative of  his  people,  but  lord  of  the  land  and  master  of 
its  inhabitants.  Succession  to  the  throne  was  henceforth 
by  inheritance  as  to  a  private  estate.  With  such  concep- 
tions of  the  royal  office,  the  form  of  election  must  soon 
lapse. 

William  could  not  allow  to  any  subject  such  power  as 
had  been  wielded  by  Godwin  and  Harold.  He  soon  abol- 
ished the  great  earldoms,  with  exception  of  Chester,  Shrews- 
bury, and  Durham.  To  a  few  favored  followers  were  granted 
large  estates,  but  these  were  scattered  piecemeal  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  The  king  reserved  to  himself  the 
lion's  share  of  the  confiscated  territories,  and  never  relin- 
quished his  prerogative  as  conqueror  and  landowner  in  chief. 
In  granting  lands  to  his  vassals  William  made  the  most  of 
his  opportunity  to  impose  more  stringent  conditions  than 
had  been  customary  in  England  or  even  in  Normandy. 
Maitiand,  Every  vassal  paid  an  annual  rent,  not,  however,  in  money, 
pp-  i:30-i72-  ^^j.  -^  military  service.  The  specific  terms  of  his  tenure 
depended  upon  his  rank  and  the  extent  of  his  fief.  If  the 
tenant  failed  in  his  duty,  the  grant  might  be  recalled.  In 
this  way  every  great  lord  was  bound  to  send  his  contingent 
Johnson,  to  the  king's  army.  The  feudal  relation  —  by  which  we  are 
pp.  96-110.  to  understand  the  reciprocal  obligations  of  lord  and  vassal, 
the  lord  granting  land  and  protection,  the  vassal  giving  a 
stipulated  service  —  prevailed  throughout  the  Middle  Ages 
both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent.  It  was  the  charac- 
teristic social  tie  not  only  between  sovereign  and  tenant-in- 
chief,  but  between  the  king's  vassals  and  their  subtenants, 
between  the  subtenants  and  their  dependents.  King  William 
did  not  introduce  the  feudal  bond  into  his  English  posses- 


Reign  of  William  I  jt, 

sions/  but  he  put  upon  it  a  new  interpretation.     Under  his 

vigorous  administration  feudalism  became  a  political  system   Green, 

that  brought  the  wealth  and  fighting  force  of  every  land-   pp- 83-85, 88. 

owner  in  the  country  under  the  king's  control.     In  a  great 

military  concourse  held  at  SaHsbury  (1086),  William  obliged   The  Oath  of 

"all  the  landowners  that  were  of  account  over  all  England"   Salisbury. 

to  take  the    oath   of  fealty  to   himself  in  person.     Every 

man  knelt  before  him,  and  placing  his  hands  between  those 

of  his  sovereign  swore  "  to  be  faithful  to  the  king  before  all 

other  men."    So  did  the  astute  Norman  check  the  tendency 

to  disintegration  that  was  the  bane  of  continental  feudalism.* 

While   this  oath   was  observed,  no    powerful   vassal   could 

gather  his  dependents  to  make  war  against  the  common 

overlord. 

All  tenants-in-chief  were  summoned  to  meet  the  king  in  a 
Great  Council  three  times  a  year,  at  Christmas,  at  Easter, 
and  at  Whitsuntide.  This  was  apparently  a  continuation  of 
the  Witenagemot,  and  indeed  the  old  name  was  for  some 
time  retained.  It  was,  however,  no  longer  a  meeting  of  wise 
men,  the  counsellors  of  the  king,  but  of  principal  landowners 
who  came  in  feudal  array,  not  to  advise  their  sovereign  but 
to  render  homage.  With  this  change  in  character  the 
authority  of  the  assembly  dwindled.  The  administration  of 
the  government  was  in  the  hands  of  the  king's  officers  and 
the  legislative  and  judicial  functions  of  the  Witenagemot 
were  soon  absorbed  by  the  Curia  Regis.- 

In  order  that  he  might  be  fully  informed  as  to  the  re-   Traill,  I, 
sources  of  his  new  domain,  the  king  had  a  rent-roll  compiled   236-238. 
—  the  so-called  Domesday  Survey.     This  was  at  one  and   Domesday 
the  same  time  a  census,  a  land  register,  and  an  assessment  Book, 
of  property  values,  and  the  record  remains  of  the  highest  Maitiand, 
utility  to  historians.     This  concern  for  accurate  knowledge  pp-  1-26- 
of  his  realm  is  a  mark  of  William's  statesmanship,  but  the 

1  We  have  seen  that  the  relation  existed  in  Saxon  times  as  a  personal 
bond  between  king  and  thegn,  thegn  and  ceorl,  landowner  and  serf. 

2  The  Curia  Regis  was  the  supreme  court  of  justice  presided  over  by  the 
king's  chief  minister,  entitled  the  justiciar. 


74  Foreign  Rule 

inquiry  was  deeply  resented  by  Englishmen  of  that  day, 
since  it  heralded  taxation.  The  Confessor  had  promised 
to  abolish  the  Danegeld,  but  it  was  reimposed  by  the  Con- 
queror, and  at  three  times  the  former  rate. 

The  Salisbury  oath  and  the  Domesday  Survey  marked  the 
climax  of  the  Conqueror's  work,  in  England.  He  had  suc- 
ceeded, for  the  time  being,  in  bringing  men  of  all  ranks 
and  races  to  acknowledge  the  duty  of  primary  allegiance  to 
the  king.  The  next  year  he  was  engaged  in  war  with  his 
own  overlord,  Phihp  of  France.  At  the  siege  of  Mantes 
he  received  an  injury  from  which  he  soon  after  died. 
Green,  x  /  William  Rufus  (1087-1100).  —  In  accordance  with  the 
pp.  9,  90.  f  Conqueror's  will,  his  eldest  son  Robert  ^  succeeded  him  in 
Normandy,  William,  the  second  son,  became  king  of  Eng- 
land, while  to  Henry  Beauclerc,  the  scholar  of  the  family, 
was  left  a  sum  of  ^5000  and  some  private  estates. 

WiUiam  H  had  inherited  all  the  evil  traits  of  his  father, 
with  none  of  the  good.  His  greed  was  restrained  by  no  sense 
of  justice,  his  impetuous  will  was  guided  by  no  statesmanlike 
foresight.  His  kingship  was  merely  an  opportunity  for  indulg- 
ing to  the  full  his  fierce  and  unbridled  passions.  Ranulf,  the 
justiciar,  was  his  able  accomplice.  This  man,  nicknamed 
Flambard,  "  the  firebrand,"  had  won  the  favor  of  his  royal 
patron  by  his  ingenuity  in  devising  new  pretexts  for  wringing 
money  from  the  reluctant  purses  of  the  king's  subjects.  In 
accordance  with  the  continental  version  of  the  relations  be- 
tween lord  and  vassal,  the  king  had  the  entire  control  of 
the  estates  of  a  minor  and  might  appropriate  the  income. 
On  coming  of  age,  the  heir  must  pay  a  large  sum  of  money 
(relief)  for  the  privilege  of  entering  upon  his  inheritance. 

1  The  Norman  kings:  — 

William  I,  1066-1087 


Robert    William  II,     Henry  I,  1100-1135  Adela,  m.  Stephen  of  Blois 

1087-1100  I  I 

Matilda,  m.  Geoffrey  of  Anjou    Stephen,  1135-1154 

Henry  II.  1154-1189 


William  Riifus 


75 


If  the  heir  were  a  woman,  the  king  could  marry  her  to 
whomsoever  he  would.  Choice  of  a  husband  was  only 
conceded  to  the  woman  or  her  relatives  on  payment  of 
a  heavy  fine.  If  there  were  no  heirs  or  in  case  a  vassal  were 
convicted  of  felony,  the  estate  lapsed  (escheated)  to  the 
crown.  Certain  extraordinary  "  aids  "  might  be  demanded  Feudal  aids 
on  the  marriage  of 
the  king's  eldest 
daughter,  on  the 
knighting  of  his 
eldest  son,  or,  in 
case  he  was  taken 
captive,  for  his 
ransom.  All  these 
services  may  be 
justified  as  medi- 
aeval forms  of  rent, 
and  they  were  in 
turn  required  by 
the  king's  vassals 
of  their  subten- 
ants. Under  a 
just  administra- 
tion they  were  not 
exorbitant,  but  the 
Red  King  and 
Ranulf,  ignoring 
all  right  and  pre- 
cedent, set  no 
bounds  to  their 
merciless  greed. 
Their       exactions 

fell  most  heavily  upon  the  great  Norman  barons,  and  were 
by  them  promptly  resented.  Under  the  lead  of  Odo,  Bishop 
of  Bayeux,  they  revolted  and  declared  for  Robert,  Duke  of 
Normandy,  the  elder  brother.  The  king  in  his  extremity 
turned  to  his  English  subjects   (1088),  promising  them  to 


Effigy  of  a  Nokman 


76 


Foreign  Riile 


Green, 
pp.  90-92. 


^ 


Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 


Kendall, 
pp.  49-51. 


abide  by  the  English  laws  and  to  forbid  all  unjust  imposts, 
They  responded  to  his  appeal  and  furnished  the  force  of 
twenty  thousand  men  with  which  the  attack  of  the  barons 
was  repulsed.  The  revolt  once  suppressed,  however,  the 
king  renewed  his  cruel  practices.  In  this  only  did  he  keep 
his  promise  of  good  government :  he  allowed  no  tyranny 
but  his  own. 

'^  .Henry  I  (1100-1135).  —  In  iioo,  William  Rufus  was 
killed  while  hunting  in  the  New  Forest,  and  Henry  Beauclerc 
was  chosen  king.  This  wise  prince  had  shown  himself  an 
able  ruler  in  his  httle  Norman  province,  and  his  accession 
brought  a  much  needed  peace  to  England.  The  king 
desired  first  of  all  to  be  on  good  terms  with  his  English 
subjects.  With  this  in  view  he  married  Edgyth,  the  niece 
of  Edgar  the  Atheling  and  daughter  of  the  king  of  Scots.^ 
Her  name,  which  was  impossible  to  a  French  tongue,  was 
changed  to  Matilda.  The  Norman  courtiers  gave  to  the 
Saxon  princess  but  a  grudging  welcome ;  they  mocked  the 
popular  sympathies  of  the  king  and  queen  by  giving  them 
the  homely  English  names,  Godrich  and  Godiva.  But 
Henry  recked  nothing  of  their  merriment.  He  had  "prom- 
ised God  and  all  the  people  to  put  down  all  the  injustices 
that  were  in  his  brother's  time,  and  to  maintain  the  best 
laws  that  stood  in  any  king's  day  before  him."  The  charter, 
granted  at  his  accession,  became  the  model  for  all  subse- 
quent guarantees  of  good  government.  The  Red  King's 
justiciar,  Ranulf,  was  thrown  into  the  Tower  of  London,  and 
such  officers  were  appointed  as  would  rightly  administer  the 
government.  The  local  courts  of  the  shire  and  hundred 
were  restored,  and  the  king's  agents  made  the  regular  circuits 
through  the  land  to  execute  justice  and  collect  the  royal 
revenues.^  Law  and  order  were  so  far  maintained  that  King 
Henry  was  called   the  Lion  of  Justice.      Yet  the  imposts 

1  This  alliance  brought  the  Normans  into  friendly  relations  with  the  Scotch 
court.  Edgyth's  brothers  renewed  the  oath  of  homage  to  the  king  of 
England. 

2 These  were  the  itinerant  justices  who  visited  the  shire  courts  to  assess 
taxes  and  administer  the  laws. 


Stephen  jy 

levied  in  his  name  weighed  heavily  upon  the  people,  and 
the  Chronicle  bitterly  complains  of  the  sore  oppression  of 
the  land.  The  malcontent  nobles  leagued  against  him. 
Flambard,  who  had  escaped  from  the  Tower,  and  Robert 
of  Belleme,  the  powerful  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  concerted  with 
Robert  of  Normandy  a  revolt  against  the  king,  purposing 
to  place  Duke  Robert  on  the  throne.  Rallying  to  his  aid  Green, 
the  English  and  the  lesser  vassals,  Henry  worsted  his  foes.  PP-  96.  97- 
In  the  decisive  battle  of  Tinchebrai  (1106),  the  two  Roberts 
were  taken  prisoners,  and  Normandy  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  English  king.  Duke  Robert  lingered  out  his 
days  a  captive  in  Cardiff  Castle,  and  the  Norman  nobles, 
deprived  of  pretext  for  revolt,  never  again  lifted  hand  against 
Henry.  In  1135  this  good  king  died,  and  the  land  fell  a 
prey  to  civil  war. 
I    --^epHen~1^TT35-i  1 54) . — The  barons  had   promised    the   Green, 

— f — 3ying  Henry  to  place  his  daughter  Matilda  on  the  throne  ;    PP-  101-104. 
but  the   kingdom  was  a   turbulent  one    to  be    ruled  by  a 

n'  woman,  and  the  influence  of  her  foreign  husband,  Geoffrey 
of  Anjou,  was  dreaded  by  the  English.  There  was  a  rival 
claimant,  Stephen  of  Blois,  son  of  the  Conqueror's  daughter 
Adela.  His  cause  was  championed  by  the  citizens  of 
London,  who  hoped  that  he  would  be  able  to  maintain  the 
peace  and  good  order  so  essential  to  commercial  prosperity. 
Stephen  was  chosen  king  by  the  barons  and  soon  after 
crowned  at  Westminster.  But  the  hope  of  the  Londoners 
was  doomed  to  disappointment.  In  1140,  Matilda  came 
to  England  to  urge  her  claims.  Her  cause  was  supported 
by  divers  of  the  great  nobles,  who  were,  however,  less  con- 
cerned to  maintain  her  right  than  to  defy  the  royal  authority. 
The  weak,  unstable  character  of  Stephen  gave  them  favorable 
opportunity  to  assert  their  independence.  "  When  the  Anglo-Saxon 
traitors  perceived  that  he  was  a  mild  man  and  soft  and  good    Chronicle, 

1 1 '^7 

and  did  no  justice,  then  did  they  all  wonder.  .  .  .  Every 
powerful  man  built  himself  castles  and  held  them  against 
the  king  and  they  filled  the  land  full  of  castles.  They 
cruelly  oppressed  the  wretched  men  of  the  land  with  castle- 


78 


Foreign  Rule 


works.  When  the  castles  were  made  they  filled  them  with 
devils  and  evil  men.  Then  took  they  those  men  that  they 
imagined  had  any  property,  both  by  night  and  by  day, 
peasant  men  and  women,  and  put  them  in  prison  for  their 
gold  and  their  silver,  and  tortured  them  with  unutterable 
torture.  .  .  .     Many  thousands  were  killed  with  hunger  ;  and 


Rochester  Castle 

Br.tton,  Picturesque  Antiquities  of  the  English  Cities 

that  lasted  the  nineteen  years  while  Stephen  was  king,  and 
ever  it  was  worse  and  worse.  They  laid  imposts  on  the 
townscontinually  and  called  it'censerie' ;  when  the  wretched 
men  had  no  more  to  give,  they  robbed  and  burned  all  the 
towns,  so  that  thou  mightest  well  go  all  a  day's  journey  and 
thou  shouldst  never  find  a  man  sitting  in  a  town  or  the  land 
tilled.  Corn,  flesh,  and  cheese  there  was  none  in  the  land. 
.  .  .  Men  said  openly  that  Christ  and  his  saints  slept." 
The  anarchy  of  these  miserable  years  taught  the  English  a 


Social  Results  of  the  Conquest  79 

long-needed  lesson,  that  there  could  be  no  peace  or  pros- 
perity except  the  king  was  strong  enough  to  enforce  the 
laws. 

Stephen  made  slow  headway  against  the  rebellion.  He 
did  not  seek  the  support  of  the  English  as  Henry  had  done, 
but  foolishly  spent  his  treasure  in  hiring  foreign  mercenaries, 
who  were  even  more  cruel  than  the  barons  and  alienated 
the  people  from  the  royal  cause.  Still  Matilda  could  not 
win  the  kingdom.  In  the  battle  of  Lincoln  (1140)  Stephen 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  for  a  few  months  Henry's  daughter 
triumphed ;  but  she  proved  to  be  a  harsh  and  vengeful 
mistress.  London  revolted,  and  the  great  barons  renewed 
their  allegiance  to  Stephen.  The  Angevin  cause  seemed 
all  but  lost  when  it  was  taken  up  and  brought  to  a  trium- 
phant issue  by  Matilda's  son,  the  young  Henry  Plantagenet.^  Henry 
Though  but  nineteen  years  of  age,  this  prince  was  already  of  Anjou. 
lord  of  Normandy,  Maine,  Anjou,  and  Aquitaine,  and  ruled 
these  restless  provinces  with  a  strong  hand.  Arriving  in 
England  in  1153,  he  rallied  his  mother's  adherents  about 
him  and  made  such  rapid  progress  that  Stephen  was  fain  to 
treat  for  peace.  A  compromise  was  negotiated  by  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  the  treaty  of  Wallingford  Treaty  of 
(1153).  The  king  had  just  lost  his  only  son,  Eustace.  He  Wallingford. 
agreed,  on  condition  that  he  might  retain  the  crown  during 
his  life,  to  recognize  Henry  as  his  son  and  heir.  So  the 
long  strife  came  to  an  end.  When  Stephen  died  in  the  next 
year,  Henry  was  beyond  sea ;  "  but  no  man  durst  do  other 
than  good  for  the  great  awe  of  him."  On  his  return  he  was 
crowned  king  and  entered  into  undisputed  possession  of  his 

inheritance.      _^    -    —      . __,    —    ^-_-- 

"^  Social  Results  of  the  Conquest.  —  The  followers  of  William 
had  succeeded  in  establishing  themselves  in  possession  of 
every  post  of  power  and  profit  throughout  the  kingdom. 
Some  forty  Norman  villages  gave  title  to  the  great  estates, 
and  no  English  names  were  to  be  found  among  the  tenants- 

1  The  family  nickname  from  planta  genista,  the  broom-plant,  a  sprig  of 
vvliich  Count  Geoffrey  usually  wore  in  his  hat. 


8o  Foreign  Rule 

in-chief  until  a  century  after  the  Conquest.  Latin  was  the 
language  of  the  Church  and  the  law,  French  that  of  the  court. 
Only  the  lower  orders  spoke  EngUsh.  Continental  influ- 
ences are  evident  in  the  literary  revival  that  marked  the  reign 
of  the  scholar  son  of  the  Conqueror.  The  national  annals 
were  elaborated  in  flowing  Latin.  Henry  of  Huntingdon 
enlivened  the  records  of  Bede  and  the  Chronicle  with  the 
war-songs  of  the  Saxons.  William  of  Malmesbury  recounted 
not  only  English  but  European  history  with  an  eye  to 
causes  and  results.  The  ancient  legends  of  Arthur  were 
rehearsed  in  Monmouth's  History  of  the  Britons,  while  Eng- 
lish feeling  found  expression  in  the  Proverbs  of  Alfred. 
The  separation  between  the  two  races,  the  conquering 
Source-Book  ^"^^  '^^^  Conquered,  was  wide  and  deep.  Contempt  and 
pp.  41-44.  tyranny  on  the  one  hand,  fear  and  hate  on  the  other,  pro- 
longed the  antagonism  to  which  the  harsh  methods  of  the 
Conquest  had  given  rise.  The  subject  Saxons  bore  with 
sullen  ill-will  the  burdens  imposed  by  the  haughty  Norman 
lords,  and  availed  themselves  of  every  opportunity  for  re- 
venge. Time  and  again  the  people  made  common  cause 
with  the  king  in  his  struggle  with  the  feudal  aristocracy. 

The  external  effects  of  the  Norman  Conquest  were  preg- 
nant with  result.  First  of  all,  England  was  brought  into 
close  relation  with  the  Continent.  The  Conqueror  ruled 
Normandy  and  England  as  one  kingdom.  His  great  barons 
held  estates  on  both  sides  the  Channel,  and  much  journey- 
ing between  the  French  and  English  territories  became 
necessary.  Under  William  Rufiis,  Normandy  and  England 
were  independent,  but  Tinchebrai  gave  Normandy  to  Henry 
I,  and  the  duchy  and  the  kingdom  remained  united  for  a 
hundred  years  thereafter.  This  political  connection  brought 
about  intercourse  with  the  Continent,  such  as  had  not 
existed  since  Britain  was  a  Roman  colony.  Commerce 
revived  ;  merchants  ventured  to  undertake  a  European  trade, 
carrying  to  France,  Flanders,  and  Germany, the  agricultural 
products  of  England.  Li  exchange  they  brought  back  the 
fine  cloths,  furs,  wines,  and  other  luxuries  required  by  the 


Social  Results  of  tJie  Conquest  8 1 

Norman  gallants.  Lead  and  tin  were  again  exported, 
while  iron,  the  art  of  smelting  having  fallen  out  of  use, 
was  fetched  from  the  Baltic  coast.  The  precious  metals, 
especially  silver,  were  imported  in  considerable  quantity. 
The  coinage  of  money  was  guarded  as  a  royal  prerogative. 
Commercial  operations  necessitated  a  uniform  currency,  and 


Norman  House  at  Lincoln  called  the  Jews'  House 

Gardiner,  A  Student's  History  of  England 


this  could  be  secured  only  by  doing  away  with  the  private 
moneyers.     The  Jews,^  the  financiers  of  the  Middle  Ages,   Green, 
were  encouraged  to  settle  in  the  towns  under  guarantee  of  PP-  ^^'  ^7- 
the   king's    protection.      Trade   ventures   carried    men   far 
abroad,  to  Paris,  to  Marseilles,  to  Venice,  and  the  Orient. 
The  high-priced  dainties  they  brought  back  in  their  brave 

1  They  were  confined  to  special  districts,  the  Jevvrys,  where  they  lived 
on  sufferance  merely. 
G 


82  Foreign  Rule 

ships  were  not  their  most  valuable  cargo.  Strange  tales  of 
foreign  lands  and  customs,  marvellous  stories  of  romance 
and  adventure,  wisdom  won  by  contact  with  superior  civili- 
zations, —  these  were  the  imports  that  aiitected  most  deeply 
the  life  of  the  English  people. 

Intellectual  Results. —  Furthermore,  the  Conquest  brought 
England  into  touch  with  the  learning  of  the  Continent. 
From  the  Universities  of  Bologna  and  Paris,  from  the 
renowned  Abbey  of  Bee,  came  Lanfranc  and  Anselm  and 
many  less  famous  scholars  and  ecclesiastics,  who  cultivated 
Johnson,  the  Latin  tongue  and  the  continental  authors  and  inspired 
pp.  110-114.  ^.j^g  English  Church  with  a  new  zeal  for  letters.  Thousands 
of  English  youths  took  upon  themselves  monk's  vows,  not 
in  religious  devotion,  but  because  the  monastery  afforded 
the  only  opportunity  for  the  scholar's  life.  The  intellectual 
labors  of  these  devotees  of  learning  were  confined  to  the 
transcription  of  Latin  manuscripts,  sacerdotal  and  classical, 
and  the  embellishment  of  the  national  annals.  The  worldly- 
minded  ecclesiastic  found  at  the  court  a  more  congenial 
employment.  Since  the  monks  were  the  only  learned  men 
of  the  day,  they  were  almost  exclusively  employed  by  the 
Norman  kings  in  the  administration  of  the  government. 
Hence  resulted  a  notable  modification  of  political  theory. 
Monastic  training  instilled  into  the  thought  of  these  cowled 
chancellors  the  conceptions  of  law  and  government  that  had 
been  handed  down  by  the  Church  as  part  of  her  heritage 
from  imperial  Rome.  Doctrines  of  the  king's  supremacy 
and  the  subject's  duty  of  unquestioning  obedience  are  not 
of  English  origin,  but  derived  from  the  Continent.  They 
were  imported  into  England  by  Norman  priests. 

Exaltation  of  the  King's  Authority. — ^  Theory  was  most 
effectively  enforced  by  facts.  The  greedy  misrule  of  the 
barons  taught  men  the  need  of  authority.  The  supremacy 
of  the  king  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  safeguard  of  the 
subject  against  political  anarchy  such  as  had  devasted  Eng- 
land under  Edward  the  Confessor  and  the  feeble  Stephen. 
The    Normans   brought    to   the    task    of   administration   a 


Relations  of  Church  and  State  83 

capacity  for  organization,  a  sense  of  law  and  method,  such   Traill,  I, 
as  England  had  never  known.     From  the  royal  officers  might  ^3^'  '^^' 
be  expected  a  more  uniform  justice  than  was  meted  out  in 
the  local  courts,  and  men  were  wilhng  to  pay  dear  for  such 
protection.      Neither  the  stern  cruelty  of  William  nor  the 
heavy  taxes  imposed  by  his  sons  could  obliterate  the  remem- 
brance of  "  the  good  peace  they  had  made  in  the  land."   Anglo-Saxon 
Throughout  this  period  king  and  barons  were  engaged  in    Chronicle. 
a   well- matched  contest  for  mastery.     The  ambitious  vas- 
sals  maintained  a  prolonged  resistance  against  the   royal 
authority.      Again  and  again  the   strife  broke  out,   in  the 
revolt  of  Hereford  and  Northumberland  against  the  Con- 
queror, in  the  opposition  of  the  barons  to  the  exactions  of 
William  Rufus,  in  the  rising  against  Henry  I  led  by  Flam- 
bard,  in  the  contemptuous  anarchy  of  the  great  lords  under 
Stephen.     It  was  a  veritable  tug  of  war,  in  which  the  kings 
were  forced  to  fall  back  on  the  support  of  the  English,  and 
to  make  promises  to  observe  the  ancient  laws  in  charters 
that  established  a  precedent  of  mutual  obligation. 

Relations  of  Church  and  State.  —  In  the  long   struggle  Train,  i, 
between  king  and  barons,  the  clergy  as  a  rule  cast  their  ^■^7-254- 
weight  on  the  side  of  royalty;  and  yet,  influenced  by  the 
mounting    ambition    of   the    popes,    the    Church    asserted 
privileges  which  not  infrequently  brought  her  into  antago- 
nism with  the  throne.     Rome  had  hoped   from  William's 
invasion  of  England  closer  relations  between  the  Papal  See 
and  the  English   Church,  and   these   anticipations  were  in 
some  degree  realized.     There  followed  close  upon  the  Con- 
quest a  revival  of  ecclesiasticism.     The  Norman  clergy  in-    Green, 
troduced  into  England  the  stricter  discipline  imposed  upon   PP-  ^5.  £t 
the  continental  Church  by  Gregory  VII.     Celibacy  was  en- 
forced among  the  superior  clergy,  although  the  parish  priests 
were  left  to  keep  their  wives  if  they  would.     The  incoming 
of  the  Cistercians,  whose  voluntary  poverty  and  severe  ascet- 
icism attracted  the  admiration  and  devotion  of  the  people, 
gave  a  new  impulse  to  monasticism. 

The  enhanced  zeal  of  the  clergy  was  reflected  in  the  in- 


84 


Foreign  Rule 


creased  devotion  of  the  people.  Tangible  evidence  of  this 
aspect  of  the  Conquest  remains  to  us  in  the  beautiful 
Norman  churches  raised  by  the  gifts  of  the  faithful.     The 


Side  Aisle  of  White  Chapel,  Tower  of  London 

Clark,  Mediceval  Military  Architecture  of  England 


simple  structures  of  wood  and  stone  that  had  seemed  ade- 
quate to  Saxon  England  gave  place  to  grand  cathedrals, 
built  in  the  ornate,  round-arch  fashion,  that  was  the  glory 
of  Normandy. 


Relations  of  Church  and  State  85 

William's  attitude  toward  the  Church  was  that  of  the  able 
ruler  who  sees  that  the  clergy  may  serve  an  important  func- 
tion in  maintaining  order  and  in  rallying  the  people  to  the 
support  of  the  king.  He  deposed  the  English  prelates  and 
appointed  Normans  in  their  stead,  thus  securing  his  own 
influence  in  all  the  superior  offices ;  but  the  clerics  so  ap- 
pointed were  selected  with  an  eye  to  their  churchmanship 
as  well  as  to  their  loyalty.  Lanfranc,  who  superseded  Lanfranc. 
Stigand  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  able  ecclesiastics  of  his  day.  William  further 
converted  the  Church  hierarchy  to  his  purpose  by  requiring 
from  each  bishop  and  abbot  the  oath  of  homage  and  such 
feudal  service  as  would  be  due  from  a  lay  lord  holding  the 
same  lands.  The  Church  was  thus  feudaUzed,  and  every 
acre  of  monastery  land  and  every  parish  glebe  '  was  made 
to  render  its  quota  to  the  royal  treasury. 

The  Conqueror  was  a  faithful  son  of  the  Church,  and  yet 
the  pretensions  of  Gregory  VII  to  supreme  authority  in 
ecclesiastical  affairs  were  met  by  uncompromising  denial. 
The  wise  and  wary  king  won  from  the  Pope,  whose  will  no 
other  European  monarch  had  been  able  to  withstand,  most 
important  concessions.  No  excommunication  was  to  be 
declared  in  England  without  the  king's  leave.  No  papal 
bull  could  be  received  or  executed  without  his  consent. 
Legislation  in  Church  synod  was  subject  to  his  veto.  In- 
dependent ecclesiastical  courts  were  allowed,  having  juris- 
diction over  the  moral  offences  of  clergy  and  laity ;  but  in 
the  case  of  laymen  the  penalty  could  be  inflicted  only  with 
the  king's  consent.  Appointments  to  ecclesiastical  ofifice 
were  to  be  made  by  the  secular  power. 

The  questions  thus  settled  by  the  friendly  mediation  of 
Lanfranc  were  destined  to  be  reopened  again  and  again 
and  to  vex  statesmen  for  centuries  to  come.  For  example, 
the  right  of  appointment  to  ecclesiastical  ofifice,  which  had 
been  readily  conceded  to  the  great  William,  was  challenged 

1  The  land  belonging  to  a  parish  church  and  assigned  to  the  use  of  its 
clergy. 


86  Foreign  Rule 

in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  Anselm,  the  saintly  successor  of 
Lanfranc,  refused  to  consecrate  the  bishops  who  had  re- 
ceived appointment^  from  the  king.  The  conflicting  claims 
of  king  and  pope  were  again  compromised.  Prelates  were 
to  be  elected  by  the  clergy,  but  in  the  king's  presence.  The 
ring  and  the  crosier,  symbols  of  the  spiritual  function,  were 
to  be  bestowed  by  the  pope,  while  the  newly  elected  bishop 
or  abbot  was  to  render  homage  to  the  king  for  his  estates. 

Life  of  the  People.  —  Upon  the  life  of  the  common  peo- 
ple the  effect  of  the  Conquest  is  not  easily  ascertained.     The 
early  annalists  were  so  fully  occupied  in  recounting  the  deeds 
Traill,  I,  of  rich  and  powerful  personages  that  they  told  little  of  the 

pp.  240-243.  aspirations,  the  achievements,  the  failures,  of  the  humble 
men  and  women  who  tilled  the  fields,  and  wove  the  cloth, 
and  performed  the  thousand  tasks  without  which  the  proj- 
ects of  king  and  statesman  could  avail  nothing  for  the 
welfare  of  the  nation.  It  was  wholly  an  agricultural  people. 
Every  man  was  related  to  the  land  by  tenure  free  or  unfree. 
Even  the  towns  possess  outlying  fields  in  which  each 
burgher  had  his  share.  The  population  of  England  in  the 
eleventh  century  was  about  one  million  five  hundred  thou- 
sand. Judging  from  data  afforded  by  the  Domesday  Sur- 
vey, only  five  per  cent  were  nobles  and  ecclesiastical  digni- 
taries.^ The  remaining  ninety- five  per  cent  were  subtenants, 
small  landed  proprietors,  serfs,  and  slaves.  The  principal 
Saxon  landholders  were,  as  has  been  seen,  dispossessed  by 
the  Conquest ;  but  the  tillers  of  the  soil  were  left  in  undis- 
turbed possession.  Speaking  the  Saxon  tongue,  ministered 
to  by  Saxon  priests,  observing  the  social  and  political  cus- 
toms of  their  ancestors,  they  lived  their  own  life  and  were 
unning-  \\\^\\q  affected  by  the  change  of  masters.  They  toiled  on  in 
pp.  30-39.        the  ancient  rural  communities  (called  manors  in  the  Nor- 

1  The  right  of  appointing  the  successor  to  a  spiritual  benefice  was  claimed 
by  the  king  since  the  incumbent  was  a  vassal,  by  the  Pope  since  he  was  an 
ecclesiastic. 

2  Census  of  adult  males,  1085 :  vassals  of  the  crown,  lay,  600,  ecclesiastical, 
994;  subtenants,  7S71 ;  free  proprietors,  33,169;  serfs,  206,900;  slaves, 
25,156;  burgesses,  7968. 


I'.A  I' I  i,i',  Ai;i;i  V,  Srssi'A 
From  an  old  print  in  The  Universal  Magazine 

CLOSING  SENTENCE  AND   SIGNATURES  OF  THE  CHARTER  OF   BATTLE 

ABBEY,   1087. 

X^Ii  aLjl  ^   Da|n)mw  tncil.  vf  boinimlr    iSxc^  4«r  luo  eicl^  fcdp  n\  clemolm 


<^dUlUaf^ 


SVil3nmV4'«^'-       hiCUmsU>r^         <^JblUjf'«(«'OS^. 


A-iurilacfsluni 


^v.j>»llf>tfj;Ra|f         V^imi«)'c«<^.>t<f.iiJ.     B»ii«f  i«^tetfVi 


•f  I«l 


And  if  any  one  of  my  Barons  or  men  shall  have  given  anything  uf  his  own  to  the 
same  church  as  alms,  I  grant  and  by  the  present  charter,  as  by  the  aforesaid  royal 
authority,  confirm  to  them  the  same  liberties  which  I  granted  in  those  matters  which 
I  gave  to  the  same  church. 


Willebnus  rex 
King  William 
Lanfrancus  Arch.  Cant'. 
Lanfranc,  Archbishop  of 

Canterbury 

Maurici^  ep's  Lund^. 

Maurice,  Bishop  of 

London 


IValkelin'  ep^.  Wint^ 

Walkelin,  Bishop  of 

Winchester 


Osbernus  ep's  Exou^. 
Osbern,  Bishop  of  Exeter 
Gundul/^  ep's  Ro/~ 
Gundnlf,  Bishop  of 


Hugo  comes  Cestren^ 

Hugh,  Earl  of  Chester 

Roger^  coin^  de 

Muntgum^ 
Roger,  Earl  of 
Montgomery 
Willelm^  Com^  de  JVar^ 


Willelm^  Fili^  Osb^ 
William  Fitz  Osbern 
Willeim^  de  Brai^ 
William  de  Braoise 
Bernard^  de  novo 

merc^ . 
Bernard  of  Newmarch 


Rochester 


William,  Earl  of  Warren 


Tomas  archp.  Ebor^ 
Thomas,  Archbishop  of  York. 


Foreign  Rjile 


Maitland, 
pp.  3t)-66. 


man  speech),  cultivating  the  land  they  had  inherited  from 
their  fathers,  and  rendering  to  the  new  lord  the  labor,  money, 
or  product  services  required  by  local  usage.  A  quaint  docu- 
ment of  the  tenth  century  gives  us  detailed  information  as 
to  the  duties  and  privileges  of  the  serf  or  villein.  His  ser- 
vices are  "  various,  in  some  places  heavy,  in  others  moder- 
ate." He  is  required  to  work  on  his  lord's  land  two  days  a 
week  throughout  the  year  and  three  days  a  week  through  the 
spring  ploughing  and  planting  and  during  harvest.  Other 
special  services  (boon-work)  must  be  rendered  upon  de- 
mand. "  From  Martinmas  to  Easter,  he  sliall  lie  at  his 
lord's  fold  as  often  as  he  is  bid."  He  may  be  asked  to 
fetch  and  carry,  but  "  if  he  do  carrying,  he  is  not  to  work 
while  his  horse  is  out."  The  remaining  time  he  is  free  to 
use  on  his  own  land.  On  certain  of  the  great  Church  fes- 
tivals,—  the  characteristic  marks  of  time  in  the  mediaeval 
calendar,  —  each  villein  must  bring  to  the  manor  house  a 
stipulated  contribution  in  money  or  produce.  On  Michael- 
masday,  he  pays  tenpence  rent ;  on  Martinmasday,^  thirty- 
three  sesters  of  barley  and  two  hens  ;  at  Easter,  a  young 
sheep  or  twopence.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  serfs  to  feed  the 
lord's  hounds  and  to  maintain  the  village  swineherd,  to  whom 
each  man  gives  six  loaves  "  when  he  goes  to  mast."  The 
lord,  for  his  part,  provides  his  serf  with  thirty  acres  of  land 
and  an  "  outfit  "  j  i.e.  two  oxen,  one  cow,  and  six  sheep,  tools 
for  his  work,  and  utensils  for  his  house.  "  Then  when  he 
dies,  his  lord  takes  back  what  he  leaves."  To  secure  the 
fulfilment  of  these  numerous  and  complicated  services 
required  sedulous  attention  ;  and  for  this  purpose  the  lord 
of  the  manor,  often  an  absentee,  employed  a  steward  or 
bailiff.  His  was  a  hateful  task,  and  mediaeval  literature 
abounds  in  sarcastic  allusions  to  his  greed  and  cunning. 
Serf  labor  seems  a  cumbersome  method  of  getting  work 
done,  but  it  was  the  form  of  service  most  convenient  in  a 
feudal  society  because  it  did  not  require  direct  supervision. 


1  The   feast   of  St.  Michael,  September   29.     The   feast   of  St.  Martin, 
November  11. 


Life  of  the  People 


89 


It  was  to  every  man's  interest  to  cultivate  his  own  plot  of 
land  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and  ability.  On  the  de- 
mesne land  ^  he  gave  but  a  grudging  service. 

The  Domesday  Survey  reports  only  twenty-five  thousand   Traill,  I, 
slaves,  and  after  the  eleventh  century  the  number  rapidly   356-360. 
decreased.     This  was  in  part  a  consequence  of  the  influence 
of  Lanfranc   and  other  churchmen  like  the  good  Bishop   Maitland, 
VVulfstan,  and  of  the  edict  against  the  slave  trade  issued  by    PP-  26-36- 
the  Conqueror,  but  it  was  due  even  more  to  the  prevalence 
of  the  feudal  relation,  with  which  property  in  human  beings 
was  inconsistent. 

The  free  proprietors  formed  only  twelve  per  cent  of  the   Maitland, 
population,  and  they  were  to  be  found  for  the  most  part  in  PP-  66-79- 
the  north  among  the  recent  Danish  settlements.     In  the 
south,  the  feudal  obligation  was  well-nigh  universal. 

Life  within  the  manor  was  rude  and  simple  in  the  extreme. 
The  administration  of  government  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
lord  of  the  manor.  The  ancient  tungemot  became  the 
court  leet,  whose  presiding  officer  was  the  lord's  steward. 
Weighty  cases  might  be  referred  to  the  shire  court,  where 
the  community  was  still  represented  by  its  reeve  and  four 
best  men.  Otherwise,  communication  with  the  outside 
world,  even  with  the  neighboring  villages,  was  of  rare  occur- 
rence. Iron  implements,  millstones,  salt,  and  spices  must 
be  brought  from  a  distance,  but  food,  shelter,  and  clothing 
were  amply  provided  by  local  industries.  The  methods  of 
agriculture  were  primitive,  and  much  of  the  land  lay  unre- 
claimed and  waste.  Perhaps  not  more  than  one-fifth  of  the 
cultivable  area  of  England  was  in  use.  The  people  naturally 
sought  the  fertile  fields  of  the  southeast,  while  the  less 
hospitable  regions  of  the  west  and  north  were  but  sparsely 
settled. 

Fully  three-fourths  of  the  population  of  mediaeval  England 
was  agricultural,  the  proportion  between  urban  and  rural  in- 
habitants being  about  what  it  is  in  Ireland  to-day.    Mention 

1  The  demesne  was  that  part  of  the  estate  which  the  lord  reserved  for 
his  own  use.     It  was  worked  by  serf  or  slave  or  (later)  by  hired  labor. 


Traill,  I. 
360-367. 


90 


Foreign  Rule 


Mailland, 
pp.  172-219. 


Towns. 


Green, 
pp.  92-94. 


is  made  in  the  Domesday  Survey  of  eighty  towns,  but  only  six 
of  these  were  more  than  large  villages.  The  most  prosperous 
towns  were  seaports.  London  and  Southampton  controlled 
the  trade  between  southern  England  and  the  continent. 
Norwich  brought  the  products  of  the  eastern  counties 
within  reach  of  the  sea,  while  the  western  districts  found  an 
outlet  at  Bristol.  York,  Lincoln,  Winchester,  and  Oxford 
were  ancient  fortified  places  of  great  strategic  importance 
The  Conquest  tended  to  foster  the  growth  of  cities,  since  it 


Keep  Tower,  Lincoln  Castle 

Britton,  Picturesque  A/itiqnities  of  the  English  Cities 


not  only  opened  new  commercial  opportunities  on  the  Con- 
tinent, but,  by  bringing  the  warring  sections  of  England  under 
one  strong  administration,  facilitated  internal  trade.  Feudal 
law,  moreover,  allowed  that  serfs  escaping  to  a  town  and 
remaining  unclaimed  a  year  and  a  day  acquired  freedom. 
Considerable  additions  were  thus  made  to  the  urban  popu- 
lation. Increasing  by  rapid  strides  in  numbers,  wealth,  and 
influence,  the  townsmen  were  soon  in  position  to  buy  from 
the  king  or  overlord  charters  of  liberty  that  secured  for 
them,  in  return  for  an  annual  tax,  freedom  from  further  im- 


Life  of  the  People 


91 


posts  and  practical  self-government.  London  boasts  a 
charter  signed  by  the  Conqueror.  The  affairs  of  the  bur- 
gesses were  apparently  held  quite  beneath  the  notice  of  the 
royal  court  and  its  chroniclers,  and  the  towns  were  thought  of 
only  as  a  source  of  revenue,  yet  in  the  silent,  unheeded 
growth  of  these  trading  communities  there  was  preparing  a 
power  destined  to  play  a  notable  part  in  the  nation's  history. 


Seal  of  William  I 


Important  Events 

Reign  of  Canute.  1017-1035. 

Edgar's  laws  are  adopted  by  the  Witan,  1018. 
Civil  War,  1035-1042. 
Reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  1042-1066. 

Exile  of  Godwin,  1051. 

Rebellion  of  Tostig,  1065. 

Battle  of  Hastings,  1066. 
Reign  of  William  I,  1066-1087. 

Conquest  achieved,  1066-1070.  - 

Domesday  Survey,  1085. 

Salisbury  Oath.  1086. 
Reign  of  William  Rufus,  1087-1100. 

Normandy  held  in  pledge,  1096-1100 
Reign  of  Henry  I,  ir 00- 11 35. 

Conquest  of  Normandy,  1 106. 
Reign  of  Stephen,  it 35-11 54. 

Treaty  of  Wallingford,  11 53. 


92 


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CHAPTER   IV 

THE   FUSION   OF   RACES 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 

Adams  and  Stephens,  Select  Docu7nents  of  English  Constitutional  History. 
Stubbs,  Select  Llutrters  of  English  Constitutional  History. 
Barnard,  F.,  Strongliow^s  Conquest  of  Ireland. 
Hutton,  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury. 

Special  Authorities 

Norgate,  England  under  the  Angej^in  Kings. 
Ramsay,  The  Angevin  Empire. 

Stubbs,  Constitutional  History,  Early  Plantagenels,  Historical  Introduc- 
tions. 
Pollock  and  Maitland,  History  of  English  Law. 
Ashley,  Introduction  to  English  Economic  History. 
Vinogradoff,   Villainage  in  England. 
Adams,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  II. 
Davis,  England  from  iobb—i2j2. 

iMAGiNAi'ivE  Literature 
Tennyson,  Becket. 
Scott,  Ivanhoe. 

Henry  of  Anjou  (1154-1 1 89)  .^  —  Henry  11  was  only  twen-   Green,  Henry 
ty-one  when  he  came  to  the  throne  of  England,  but  already 

1  The  Plantagenets :  — 

Henry  II,  1154-1189,  m.  Eleanor  of  Guienne,  divorced  wife  of  Louis  VII 

I  ~  \  I  I 

Henry,     Richard  I,     Geoffrey,  m.  Constance       John,  m.  Isabella       Eleanor,  m.  king 
d.  1183     1189-1199      d.  1186        of  Brittany    1199-1216     of  Angouleme        of  Castile 

Arthur,  d.  1203  Blanche,  m. 

Louis  VIII  of  France 

93 


the  Second, 
pp.  15-20. 


PP-  39-43- 


94  The  Fusion  of  Races 

men  had  learned  "  to  bear  him  great  love  and  fear."  Born 
Source-Book,  ^f  two  remarkable  races,  he  inherited  the  strong  qualities  of 
pp.  56-58.  each.  His  instinct  of  government,  his  untiring  industry,  and 
his  practical  wisdom  were  Norman,  but  he  was  Angevin  in 
his  patience,  his  craftiness,  and  his  tenacity.  The  contrasts 
of  his  character  were  as  marked  as  was  its  power.  He  was 
passionately  fond  of  the  chase,  but  he  was  the  most  learned 
ruler  of  his  time,  and  he  delighted  in  the  society  of  scholars. 
His  irreverence  was  equalled  only  by  his  superstition.  He 
would  scheme  long  and  patiently,  only  to  spoil  all  his  work 
by  a  moment's  savage,  uncontrolled  rage.  His  energy  and 
vitality  were  extraordinary.  In  the  whole  of  England  there 
was  no  harder  worker  than  the  king. 
Green,  Benry  Condition  of  England.  —  All  Henry's  power  and  energy 
i/ie  Second,  vvere  needed  for  the  task  before  him.  In  England  order 
was  to  be  restored,  a  rebellious  baronage  to  be  curbed,  and 
the  Church,  menacingly  strong  and  conscious  of  its  strength, 
to  be  brought  within  bounds.  There  were,  moreover,  new 
problems  to  be  faced.  The  England  over  which  Henry  of 
Anjou  was  called  to  rule  was  not  the  England  of  his  grand- 
father's time.  The  twelfth  century  was  marked  by  a  great 
intellectual  and  industrial  awakening  of  western  Europe, 
and  in  spite  of  anarchy  and  misrule,  England  felt  the  influ- 
ence of  the  spirit  of  the  age.  The  new  zeal  for  learning 
showed  itself  in  the  communities  of  scholars  springing  up 
under  the  protection  of  the  Church,  and  the  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  monasteries  built  during  Stephen's  reign  bore 
splendid  testimony  to  the  revival  of  religious  interest.  In- 
dustrial development  kept  pace  with  the  expanding  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  life.  Trade  and  commerce  took  a 
fresh  start,  the  towns  were  growing  in  size  and  importance, 
and  a  strong  middle  class  was  coming  into  existence.  Out- 
side the  towns,  the  Cistercian  monks,  the  model  farmers  of 
the  age,  were  at  work  changing  the  face  of  the  country. 
Planting  tlieir  settlements  on  the  dreary  moorlands,  or  in 
remote  valleys,  they  drained  swamps,  built  roads,  and  re- 
claimed  new  lands.     Under   their   influence   England  was 


Pacification  of  England 


95 


fast  becoming  the  chief  wool-growing  centre  of  western 
Europe.  It  was  an  age  of  movement  and  change,  and  the 
rules  and  systems  suited  to  the  needs  of  a  simpler  society- 
were  beginning  to  break  down  under  the  more  complex  con- 
ditions of  national  life.     A  new  order  demanded  new  laws. 

Henry's  Position  on  the  Continent. — The  full  measure   Stubbs, 
of  Henry's  ereat  task  cannot  be  realized,  however,  unless   ff ^^ 

J     ,    ,        Plantagei. 

one  keeps  in  mind  that  his  interests  were  not  bounded  by  pp_  47-49 
England.  Henry  was  a 
continental  ruler  before  he 
was  an  English  king,  and 
the  guiding  principle  in  the 
policy  of  the  early  part  of 
his  reign  was  his  ambition 
to  found  a  great  Anglo- 
Angevin  empire.  But  his 
position  on  the  Continent 
as  well  as  in  England  was 
full  of  difficulty.  To  his  in- 
herited territories  he  had 
added  Aquitaine  by  his  mar- 
riage with  its  duchess  in 
1 152,  and  later  he  acquired 
the  overlordship  of  Brittany. 
His  great  possessions  were 
held  together  by  no  common 
tie,  except  that  of  subjection 
to  himself,  and  in  many  of 

them  his  title  was  disputed.  Moreover,  he  stood  between 
two  foes  :  on  the  one.  hand  were  his  vassals  jealous  of  the 
interference  of  one  who  was  to  them  almost  a  foreigner,  on 
the  other  was  his  suzerain  lord,  the  king  of  France,  eagerly 
watching  for  a  chance  to  make  trouble. 

Pacification  of  England.  —  Henry's  first  work  was  to 
carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Wallingford.  The 
Flemish  mercenaries  were  sent  home,  many  of  the  castles 
v^'ere    destroyed,    the   courts   of  justice    reestablished.     In 


B\LAND  AbbhY,   Wh-bf  END 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagencts , 
pp.  40-44,  46, 


Judicial  and  Administrative  Refonns  97 

rapid  journeyings  north  and  west  he  brought  the  rebellious 

border    chieftains    to    terms    and  wrung  homage    from  the 

princes  of  Wales  and  the  king  of  Scots.     In  the  work  of 

reestablishing   the   government  Henry  was    aided   by  wise 

ministers.       His    justiciar,    Richard    de    Lucy,    the    Loyal, 

served    his    master   and    his    country   faithfully   for    many 

years;  but  greatest   among  the  men  who  surrounded  the    xhomas 

king  was  his  chancellor  and  friend,  Thomas   of  London,    of  London. 

known   in   later   times   as   Thomas    Becket.      The   son    of  Green, //f«;> 

the  Second, 

a    London    burgher,  Thomas    had    raised  himself  to    emi-   pp.  ^^^  80. 
nence    by   his   brilliant   accomplishments   and    his   marked 
business  ability.     He  was  appointed  chancellor  in  1 155  and    Source- ihwk, 
became  in  a  few  months  the  second  man  in  the  kingdom,    pp.  59.  60. 
A  close  friendship  sprang  up  between  the  king  and  his  minis- 
ter, and  during  the  prosperous  years  of  Backet's  chancellor- 
ship they  worked  together  as  of  one  heart  and  one  mind. 

Judicial  and  Administrative  Reforms.  —  With  the  restora-   Bright,  I, 
tion  of  order  Henry  could  turn  to  that  work  of  judicial  and    ^^'  ^°' 
administrative    reorganization    which    more    than    anything 
else  was  to  give  him  a  place  among  the  makers  of  England. 
That  his  primary  object  was  to  consolidate  his  own  power 
does  not  lessen  the  value  of  the    results    to    the    country. 
The  need  for  reform  was  great.      Five  or  six  different  legal 
systems^  were   administered   in   as   many  different  courts. 
The  men  who  gave  judgment  spoke  a  language  unknown  to   Gr&en,  Hemy 
the  judged.      Old    and    cumbersome    forms   of  procedure   t'l-e  Second, 

.  -11  •     J        J    PP-  49-02. 

handed  down  from  primitive  times  were  still  retained,  and 

the  result  of  a  trial  was  more  often  injury  than  redress.  To 
remedy  these  evils  men  were  wont  to  look  to  the  king,  since 
he  was  the  source  of  justice  and  his  will  was  law.  It  was 
Henry's  great  merit  that  he  replaced  the  personal,  irregular 

b.    interference  of  the  crown  by  a  well-understood,  permanent, 

^^nd  uniform  system  of  administration. 

Henry  reorganized  the  central  judicial  courts,  the  Curia 

1  The  most  important  legal  systems  were  the  English  common  law,  the 
feudal  law,  the  canon  law,  which  was  derived  mainly  from  the  Roman  civil 
law,  and  the  forest  law.     In  addition  each  manor  and  town  had  its  own 
peculiar  customs, 
H 


W 


98 


The  Fusion  of  Races 


Green, 

pp.  no-  112. 


Trial  by 
Jury. 


Grzer\,He>7ry 
the  Second, 
pp.  83-87. 


Regis  and  the  Exchequer,  and,  to  make  their  great  powers 
more  effectual,  he  sent  itinerant  judges  from  these  courts  into 
each  shire  to  try  all  important  civil  and  criminal  cases.  Fur- 
thermore, by  two  decrees,  the  Grand  Assize  and  the  Assize 
of  Clarendon,  the  Norman  principle  of  recognition  or  inquiry 
on  oath  was  applied  in  many  suits.  If  it  were  a  question  of  the 
title  to  land,  twelve  sworn  men  of  the  district,  chosen  indirectly 
by  the  sheriff,  were  to  decide  the  matter  on  their  own  knowl- 
edge or  on  information  from  others.  If  they  could  not  agree 
in  their  judgment,  other  men  were  added  until  twelve  were 
found  of  one  mind.  A  similar  method  was  used  in  criminal 
cases.  Jurors,  sworn  men  of  the  neighborhood,  were  to  accuse 
before  the  shire  court  all  whom  they  thought  guilty  of  crime. 
They  were  under  oath  to  speak  the  truth,  hence  their  accusa- 
tion was  called  a  verdict  {vere  dicta),  and  there  was  no  appeal 
from  it  save  to  the  ordeal.  Even  if  a  man  stood  that  test,  he  was 
bound  to  leave  the  kingdom  as  one  of  evil  repute.  It  is  from 
these  juries  of  recognition  and  presentment  that,  by  a  long 
series  of  changes,  our  modern  jury  system  has  been  evolved. 

Throughout  the  troubled  years  that  were  to  follow  the 
prosperous  beginning  of  Henry's  reign,  the  work  of  reform 
steadily  continued.  The  results  were  of  fiir-reaching  im- 
portance. The  royal  treasury  was  enriched  and  the 
royal  authority  strengthened  ^by  the  increased  business 
of  the  king's  courts ;  at  the  same  time  the  hold  of  the 
barons  on  their  vassals  was  weakened,  for  the  revival  of  the 
shire  courts  was  at  the  expense  of  private  jurisdictions. 
Moreover,  through  their  enforced  service  on  the  local 
juries,  Englishmen  received  a  training  in  public  work  that 
fitted  them  as  nothing  else  could  have  done  for  the  part  they 
were  to  play  at  a  later  day  in  the  government  of  the  nation. 

Henry  and  the  Church.  —  It  was  as  a  part  of  his  scheme 
for  the  ordering  of  his  realm,  that  Henry,  on  his  return 
to  England  in  11 63  after  a  long  stay  on  the  Continent, 
brought  forward  the  question  of  the  relations  of  Church  and 
State.  His  desire  was  to  establish  one  law  for  all  England, 
but  a  great  body  of  his  subjects  stood  wholly  outside  the 


Quarrel  between  the  Kmg  and  the  Archbishop     99 

secular  law.  The  clerical  order,  which  at  this  time  included 
most  of  the  educated  and  professional  classes  except  sol- 
diers, had  freed  itself  entirely  from  the  civil  jurisdiction. 
Now  the  Church  could  not  inflict  bodily  punishment,  hence, 
no  matter  how  serious  the  offence,  a  priest  convicted  of 
crime  need  fear  nothing  worse  than  degradation,  fine,  or 
imprisonment.  As  a  result  evil-doers  often  evaded  justice 
by  declaring  themselves  clerks,^  and  crime  and  lawlessness 
went  unpunished.  The  state  of  things  was  a  scandal  to  the 
Church  as  well  as  a  danger  to  the  realm.  It  was  certain, 
however,  that  the  ecclesiastical  order  would  not  relinquish 
its  privileges  without  a  struggle,  and  it  was  in  the  hope  of 
meeting  the  opposition  of  the  Church  from  within  that  Henry, 
in  1 162,  forced  the  vacant  primacy  upon  his  trusted  adviser. 
Thomas  held  back  at  first,  but  Henry  was  determined  to 
have  his  way,  and  at  length  the  chancellor  yielded  and  be- 
came Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  at  once  resigned  the  Bright,  I, 
chancellorship,  and  with  even  more  speed  than  he  had  PP-  93-ioi- 
formerly  "  i)ut  off  the  deacon  "  to  enter  the  service  of  the 
king,  he  cut  himself  loose  from  all  secular  ties  and  identified 
himself  with  the  Church.  In  his  old  friend  and  fellow-worker 
Henry  met  now  his  most  formidable  opponent. 

Quarrel  between  the  King  and  the  Archbishop.  —  It  was, 
however,  over  a  question,  not  of  Church  privilege,  but  of 
constitutional  right,  that  the  two  men  first  crossed  swords. 
In  a  great  council  held  at  Woodstock  in  July,  11 63,  Thomas 
resisted  the  king's  attempt  to  levy  the  old  danegeld.  Henry 
was  forced  to  give  way,  and  for  the  first  time  in  English 
history  the  will  of  the  king  in  money  matters  was  suc- 
cessfully opposed.  It  was  not  long  before  Thomas  again 
thwarted  Henry,  and  this  time  it  was  an  ecclesiastical  ques- 
tion upon  which  he  made  a  stand.  The  matter  at  issue  was 
the  trial  of  a  clerk  charged  with  crime.  The  king  wished 
to  have  the  accused  tried  before  the  royal  courts,  but 
Thomas  maintained  that  the  case  belonged  to  the  Church. 
He  agreed  finally  to  abide  by  the  "  customs  "  of  the  realm. 

1  The  accepted  evidence  of  being  a  clerk  was  ability  to  read  and  write, 
or  even  simply  to  sing. 


100 


The  Fusiojt  of  Races 


Green, 
pp.  106-109. 
Green,  Henry 
the  Second, 
pp.  97-101. 


Constitu- 
tions of 
Clarendon. 


To  decide  what  those  customs  were,  a  great  council  was 
held  at  Clarendon  in  1164.  There  the  ancient  usages,  col- 
lected and  written  down  by  some  of  the  oldest  and  wisest 
of  the  nobles,  were  read  before  the  assembled  bishops  and 
baronage. 

For  six  days  the  council  discussed  the  Constitutions  of 
Clarendon,  as  the  report  is  called.  Some  of  the  articles 
passed  unchallenged,  but  others  roused  bitter  opposition. 
The  ecclesiastical  courts  were  allowed  to  retain  much  of  their 
jurisdiction,  but  in  case  of  doubt  the  Curia  Regis  was  to 
decide  where  the  suit  belonged.  A  clerk  accused  of  crime 
was  to  be  tried  in  the  secular  courts,  and  if  convicted  the 
Church  should  not  interfere  to  protect  him.  The  arch- 
bishop passionately  refused  to  set  his  seal  to  the  Constitu- 
tions and  withdrew  from  the  council.  A  few  months  later, 
fearing  for  his  life,  he  fled  across  the  Channel  to  take  refuge 
with  Henry's  enemy,  the  king  of  France. 

The  struggle  continued  for  six  years.  Many  of  the 
bishops  were  inclined  to  compromise,  but  the  Church  as  a 
whole  supported  Thomas,  and  the  mass  of  the  people  fol- 
lowed the  clergy.  The  two  leaders  stood  firm.  Henry  was 
contending  for  the  supremacy  of  the  State,  Thomas  for  the 
independence  of  the  Church.  Each  was  sincere  in  his  pur- 
pose even  though  the  king  had  an  eye  to  his  own  authority 
as  well  as  to  the  good  of  the  realm,  and  the  archbishop 
never  forgot  personal  ambition  in  the  interests  of  his  order. 
The  king  was  a  century  in  advance  of  his  time  ;  the  priest 
did  not  realize  that  certain  privileges  of  the  Church  were 
no  longer  necessary  to  her  usefulness. 

Attempts  at  compromise  were  rendered  vain  by  the  king's 
unreasoning  violence  and  by  the  stubbornness  with  which 
Thomas  refused  to  abate  his  pretensions.  At  last,  in  r  1 70, 
a  half-reconciliation  was  brought  about,  and  the  two  men  in 
utter  weariness  agreed  to  forget  the  past.  No  sooner  had 
the  archbishop  returned  to  England,  however,  than  he  re- 
newed the  attack  on  the  king  by  excommunicating  those 
bishops  who  had  taken  part  in  the  recent  coronation  of  the 


Irisli  Affairs 


lOI 


king's  eldest  son.  Henry,  who  was  in  Normandy  at  the  time, 
was  beside  himself  with  rage  at  the  news,  and  uttered  the  hasty 
wish  that  he  were  freed  from  his  stubborn  foe.  A  few  days 
later  the  archbishop 
was  struck  down  in 
his  own  cathedral  of 
Canterbury  by  four 
knights  incited  to  the 
bloody  deed  by  the 
king's  wrathful  words 
(1170).  Thomas  won 
the  crown  of  martyr- 
dom ^  to  which  he  had 
so  long  aspired,  and 
Henry  was  called  to 
face  the  indignant  hor- 
ror of  all  Christendom. 
In  vain  he  disowned 
the  act  and  promised 
to  punish  the  murder- 
ers. Threatened  with 
excommunication,  he 
withdrew  to  Ireland, 
closing  the  ports  of  his 
realms  to  all  messen- 
gers from  the  pope. 
X  Irish  Affairs. — 
While  England  was 
steadily  gaining  ground 
in  political  unity  and 
in  civilization,  the  sis- 
ter island  was  retro- 
grading. The  country 
had    suffered   severely 


Murder  of 
Thomas, 
1 170. 
Green, //c;/;^ 

the  Secofid, 
pp.  148-154. 


Green, 

pp.  444- 


447 


Part  of  the  Choir  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral,  in  building  1175-1184 

Scott,  Mediceval  Architecture 


1  In  1173  the  archbishop  received  canonization.  The  fate  of  his  mur- 
derers illustrates  the  need  of  Henry's  proposed  reforms.  After  the  murder 
they  made  their  escape,  but  finding  themselves  shunned  by  every  one,  gave 


I02 


The  Fusion  of  Races 


Green,  Henry 
the  Second, 
pp.  158-161. 
Bright,  I, 
101-103. 


Strongbow. 


from  the  Danes.  Tliere  was  no  Irish  Alfred  to  unite  the 
whole  people  against  the  invader,  and  though  the  Irish  fought 
bravely,  it  was  without  avail.  During  the  long  and  desperate 
struggle  religion  and  learning  almost  disappeared.  The  North- 
men settled  along  the  east  coast  and  succeeded  in  effecting 
the  first  of  the  half-conquests  which  have  been  the  bane  of  this 
unhappy  land.  For  three  centuries  following,  Celtic  Ireland 
remained  outside  the  influence  of  European  civilization.  Al- 
though Christian,  it  had  no  ecclesiastical  connection  with 
the  rest  of  the  Christian  world  (p.  35),  and  its  social  and 
political  organization  was  still  the  tribal  form,  outgrown 
elsewhere  in  western  Europe.  The  only  real  authority  was 
exercised  by  the  kings  of  the  four  great  divisions,  Ulster, 
Munster,  Leinster,  and  Connaught,  but  they  were  simply  the 
leading  chieftains  of  their  tribal  groups.  The  land  was  torn 
with  their  rivalries,  and  as  yet  no  man  had  appeared  strong 
enough  to  unite  the  island  under  one  rule. 

Henry  had  long  had  in  mind  the  conquest  of  Ireland. 
Opportunity  for  interference  was  afforded  by  internal  strife. 
In  1166  Diarmit,  king  of  Leinster,  driven  into  exile  by  a 
union  of  the  many  foes  raised  through  his  own  wrongdoing, 
betook  himself  to  the  English  king  and  besought  him  to 
take  up  his  cause.  Henry,  hampered  by  his  quarrel  with 
Thomas,  was  in  no  position  to  do  this,  but  he  gave  Diarmit 
authority  to  obtain  aid  wherever  he  could  do  so  in  the 
Anglo-Angevin  domains.  The  Irish  king  had  little  diffi- 
culty in  winning  the  support  of  Richard  de  Clare,  known  as 
Strongbow,  a  needy  adventurer  of  Norman  blood.  He  also 
secured  the  aid  of  a  band  of  Norman-Welsh  knights,  the 
Fitzgeralds  and  Fitz-Stephens.  During  the  next  four  years 
the  king  of  Leinster  and  his  allies  succeeded  in  conquering 
a  large  part  of  Ireland.  In  11 71  Diarmit  died,  and  Strong- 
bow, who  had  married  Eva,  Diarmit's  daughter,  at  once 
assumed  control,  with  the  title  of  Earl  of  Leinster. 

themselves  up  to  the  king.  The  murderer  of  a  priest  was  amenable  only 
to  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  so  Henry  sent  the  men  to  the  pope,  but  the 
pope  under  the  law  could  do  nothing  but  condemn  them  to  perpetual  exile 
in  the  Holy  Land. 


The  Revolt  of  tJie  Barojis 


103 


Ireland  under  English  Rule.  —  Henry  had  watched  the 
course  of  events  in  Ireland  with  anxiety,  for  he  feared  the 
establishment  of  a  rival  kingdom.  In  1171,  desire  to  take 
matters  into  Iiis  own  hands  combined  with  the  hope  of 
appeasing  the  Pope  by  bringing  the  Irish  into  formal  submis- 
sion to  Rome,  led  him  to  cross  St.  George's  Channel.  The 
work  of  conquest  was  practically  complete  when  Henry 
arrived,  and  having  forced  all  parties  to  recognize  his  author- 
ity, he  set  about  laying  the  foundations  of  a  strong  rule. 
The  reorganization  of  the  government  was  scarcely  begun, 
however,  when  Henry  was  called  back  to  Normandy.  With 
him  vanished  all  hope  of  political  order  in  Ireland.  The 
Normans  quarrelled  among  themselves,  and  the  Irish  chief- 
tains rose  in  rebellion.  Too  busy  to  attend  to  Irish  affairs, 
Henry  (1185)  sent  over  his  son,  John,  to  whom  he  had 
given  Ireland  as  a  portion.  But  the  young  prince  returned 
home  in  a  few  months,  leaving  matters  worse  than  he  found 
them. 

For  the  next  three  hundred  years,  Ireland  was  left  very 
much  to  itself.  English  rule,  as  a  real  force,  was  confined 
to  the  Pale.^  Outside  this  district,  English  settlers  inter- 
mixed with  the  natives  and  soon  became  more  Irish  than 
the  Irish  themselves.  All  that  the  conquest  had  done  was 
to  destroy  the  efficiency  of  the  old  tribal  order,  putting 
nothing  in  its  place.  The  presence  of  the  English,  power- 
less to  effect  good,  had  the  result  of  preventing  the  union  of 
the  Irish  tribes  under  a  native  chieftain. 

The  Revolt  of  the  Barons.  —  When  Henry  hurriedly  left 
Ireland  with  his  work  there  hardly  begun,  it  was  to  meet 
dangers  that  threatened  his  rule  elsewhere.  Henry,  the  son 
and  heir  whom  he  had  caused  to  be  crowned  king  that  the 
succession  might  be  secured,  had  formed  a  widespread  con- 
spiracy to  set  his  father  aside.  The  danger  was  great,  because 
there  were  discontenteei  on  both  sides  of  the  Channel  who 
were  ready  to  look  to  the  young  king  as  a  leader. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  Henry  had  borne  with 

1  The  strip  of  coast  from  Dublin  to  Wexford. 


Green,  Henry 
the  Second, 
pp.  161-169. 

Source-Book, 
pp.  62-65. 


Green,  Hetijy 
the  Second, 
pp.  174-185 


104 


TJie  Fjision  of  Races 


Green,  Henry 
the  Second, 
PP-  74.  75- 
See  p.  8i. 

Green,  Henry 
the  Second, 
p.  144. 


Scutage. 


Bright,  I, 
103-105. 


Last  feudal 
rising. 


heavy  hand  upon  the  great  barons.  He  destroyed  theii 
castles,  sent  his  justices  into  their  courts,  and  forbade  private 
coinage.  He  diminished  their  importance  in  the  great  coun- 
cil by  compelling  the  attendance  of  the  lesser  tenants-in- 
chief,  and  in  1170  he  dealt  their  political  power  a  severe 
blow  by  withdrawing  the  office  of  sheriff  from  the  great 
nobles,  and  giving  it  to  men  of  lower  rank,  trained  in  his 
courts  and  more  dependent  upon  his  will.  Moreover,  the 
device  first  introduced  in  1159,  and  become  by  this  time, 
the  established  practice,  of  taking  scutage  or  shield  money 
in  lieu  of  service  in  the  field,  although,  apparently,  in  the 
interest  of  the  baronage,  told  against  their  military  superi- 
ority. It  deprived  their  armed  retainers  of  the  chance  of 
acquiring  skill  in  war,  while  it  enabled  the  king  to  hire  for- 
eign mercenaries  whom  he  could  more  freely  and  safely  use. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1173,  Normandy  rose  in  rebel- 
lion, and  in  a  short  time  the  revolt  became  general.  The 
young  king  was  joined  by  his  brothers  Richard  and  Geoffrey. 
Philip  of  France  and  William  the  Lion,  king  of  Scots,  es- 
poused his  cause,  and  the  great  barons  on  both  sides  of  the 
Channel  rose  in  his  support.  The  value  of  Henry's  work  of 
reform  was  now  revealed.  To  his  aid  rallied  all  who  appre- 
ciated the  good  government  that  he  had  given  England,  the 
Church  with  which  he  had  made  his  peace,  the  newer  nobil- 
ity that  knew  not  the  Norman  traditions,  the  townspeople, 
the  freeholders  of  the  country.  Moreover,  through  the 
strong  administrative  machinery  which  Henry  had  created, 
the  power  of  the  crown  could  make  itself  felt  as  never  before 
throughout  the  land.  For  a  time  the  situation  was  critical, 
but  by  the  summer  of  1 1 74  all  resistance  had  broken  down, 
and  the  king  of  Scots  was  a  prisoner.  So  complete,  indeed, 
was  Henry's  victory  that  he  could  afford  to  be  merciful  to 
the  rebels.  The  insurrection  of  11 73  marks  the  close  of  an 
era  in  English  history,  for  it  was  the  last  feudal  rising,  the 
last  contest  between  the  baronage  and  a  united  king  and 
people. 

The  Closing  Years  of  the  Reign.  —  Henry's  power  was  now 


io6  The  Fusion  of  Races 

at  its  height.  He  used  his  right  of  appointing  bishops  to 
strengthen  his  hold  upon  the  Church,  and  by  a  compromise 
with  the  papal  legate  he  secured  many  of  the  points  at  issue 
in  his  quarrel  with  Thomas.  With  the  aid  of  his  able  min- 
isters he  carried  on  the  work  of  administrative  reform.  The 
Bright,  I,  rising  of  1 173  had  shown  the  trustworthiness  of  the  fyrd  or 
106-109.  militia  and  what  service  it  might  render  in  the  king's  de- 

fence. In  1 181  Henry  issued  the  Assize  of  Arms,  providing 
for  the  reorganization  of  the  national  force.  Every  freeman 
was  bound  to  provide  himself  with  arms  according  to  his 
degree,  and  to  attend  the  regular  musters  before  the  royal 
justices. 

The  close  of  Henry's  reign  was  disturbed  by  the  rebellion 
of  his  sons,  whom  he  loved  and  trusted  in  spite  of  repeated 
Green, //en/y  treachery.  The  young  king  had  died  in  1183,  but  Richard, 
//le  Second,  ^\^q  \^q\^  apparent,  fearing  the  favor  with  which  Henry  re- 
garded his  youngest  son  John,  allied  himself  with  Philip 
Bright,  I,  Augustus  of  France  and  rose  against  his  father.  Defeated 
109-112.  Qj^  ^  sides  and  ill  of  a  mortal  disease,  Henry  submitted  to 

the  hard  terms  forced  upon  him  by  the  rebels  and  turned 
to  Chinon  to  die.  They  brought  him  from  Philip  a  list  of 
those  who  had  conspired  against  him,  and  first  on  the  list 
stood  the  name  of  his  favorite  son,  John.  Turning  his  face 
to  the  wall,  the  old  king  cried,  "  Let  things  go  now  as  they 
will,  —  I  care  no  more  for  myself  or  for  the  world."  He 
died   murmuring,  "Shame,  shame  on  a  conquered  king." 

Work  of  Henry  II.  —  Though  of  an  alien  race,  speak- 
ing a  foreign  tongue  and  spending  but  thirteen  of  the 
thirty-five  years  of  his  reign  in  England,  Henry  of  Anjou 
has  left  an  indelible  mark  on  English  history.  It  is  true 
that  the  Anglo-Angevin  empire  which  he  built  up  with  so 
much  care  hardly  outlived  the  century,  but  his  policy  deter- 
mined England's  foreign  relations  for  centuries  to  come.  It 
Bright,  I,  was  chiefly,  however,  through  his  work  at  home  that  he  im- 
113. 114-  pressed  his  personality  on  the  national  life.     He  destroyed 

feudalism  as  a  system  of  government,  he  brought  the  Church 
under  the  control  of  the  State,  and  established  a  strong  cen- 


Work  of  Heiify  II 


107 


tralized  administrative  system.  In 
accomplishing  this  he  raised  the 
power  of  the  crown  to  a  dangerous 
height,  but  at  the  same  time,  in  na- 
tionalizing the  Church,  in  destroying 
the  feudal  traditions  of  the  baron- 
age, and  in  reviving  the  activity  of 
the  local  courts,  he  nourished  forces 
which  in  the  next  century  were  to 
bring  that  power  within  bounds. 

Reign  of  Richard  I  (1189-1199). 
—  Richard,  the  second  son  of  Henry 
II,  succeeded  his  father  on  the  throne 
without  dispute.  There  is  little  like- 
ness between  Richard,  the  brilliant 
knight-errant,  and  Henry,  the  hard- 
working man  of  business,  yet  in  the 
elements  of  constitutional  progress 
and  national  growth  one  reign  is 
but  the  continuation  of  the  other. 
Henry's  continental  policy  was  fol- 
lowed by  his  son,  and  at  home  the 
administrative  system  was  developed 
by  men  trained  in  Henry's  methods 
along  Hues  already  laid  down. 

Richard  was  even  more  truly  than 
his  father  a  foreign  king.  But  twice 
during  his  reign  of  ten  years  did  he 
spend   a   few  months   in    England. 

Soon  after  taking  possession  of  his  English  kingdom  he 
started  on  a  crusade  to  the  Holy  Land,  leaving  the  govern- 
ment in  the   hands  of  his  justiciar,  William   Longchamp, 


A  Crusader. —  The  Effigy 
of  Sir  Richard  de  What- 
ton  in  Whatton  Church, 
Nottinghamshire 

From  an  o'd  print  in  T/te  Gen- 
tleman's Magazine 


Bright,  I, 
I 15-125. 

Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantageiiets 
pp.  1 10-116. 


io8 


TJie  Fusion  of  Races 


Stubbs, 

Early 

FlatUage7iets, 

pp.    Il6,   122- 

124. 


Green, 

pp.  139-141- 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp.  125-127. 


Bishop  of  Ely.  By  1192  the  failure  of  the  third  crusade 
was  evident,  and  the  king  was  forced  to  abandon  his  enter- 
prise. Alarmed  by  reports  of  trouble  at  home,  Richard  was 
hastening  westward  when  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemy, 
the  emperor  of  Germany,  and  for  two  years  was  held  a 
prisoner.  Released  at  last  on  the  promise  of  paying  a  heavy 
ransom,  he  made  his  way  to  England  only  to  find  his  brother 
John  allied  with  PhiHp  of  France  and  in  open  rebellion.  But 
John  was  too  unpopular  to  be  dangerous,  and  order  was  soon 
restored.  There  were,  however,  greater  foes  to  be  faced 
elsewhere,  and  the  rest  of  Richard's  reign  was  spent  abroad 
in  the  effort  to  suppress  the  revolt  of  the  barons  of  Aquitaine 
and  to  secure  Normandy  against  the  attacks  of  the  French 
king.^  In  11 99  his  troubled  career  came  to  a  close;  he  was 
struck  down  by  an  arrow  from  a  castle  that  he  was  be- 
sieging in  Limousin  and  lived  only  long  enough  to  declare 
John  his  heir. 

Richard's  Influence  in  England.  —  Richard's  reign  was 
marked  by  a  further  development  of  the  administrative 
system,  although  the  king's  part  in  it  was  mainly  indirect. 
Known  in  history  and  romance  as  the  Lion-Hearted,  a  chiv- 
alrous soldier  and  valiant  crusader,  to  his  English  subjects  he 
must  have  seemed  a  needy  and  rather  greedy  ruler,  who 
never  thought  of  England  except  when  in  want  of  money. 
Probably  he  conferred  on  the  country  the  greatest  benefit  in 
his  power  by  absenting  himself  on  foreign  wars.  Although 
something  more  than  a  mere  soldier,  Richard  showed  little 
appreciation  of  his  father's  methods  of  government,  and  had 
he  remained  in  England  he  might  only  have  disturbed  the 
development  of  the  political  order  so  carefully  elaborated  in 
the  previous  reign. 

In  the  absence  of  the  king,  the  control  of  affairs  fell  to 
such  men  as  Hubert  Walter,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
the  Justiciar,  Geoffrey  Fitz-Peter,  men  trained  by  Henry  II. 
They  were  loyal  and  able  servants  of  the  crown,  but  their 

1  To  defend  the  Norman  frontier,  Richard  built  the  Chateau  Gaillard,  a 
masterpiece  of  the  engineering  skill  of  the  day. 


National  Development  109 

task  was  a  difficult  one,  for  the  nation  was  becoming  restive 
under  the  increasingly  heavy  burden  of  taxation,  and  John, 
as  faithless  to  his  brother  as  he  had  been  to  his  father,  was 
at  hand  to  take  advantage  of  any  discontent.  To  meet  the  Political 
constant  demands  of  the  king  for  money,  the  ministers  were  progress 
obliged  to  resort  to  every  expedient.  Personal  property, 
levied  upon  for  the  first  time  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II, 
was  now  regularly  taxed,  and  in  1194,  when  the  nation 
was  called  upon  to  pay  the  king's  ransom,  old  forms  of 
requisition  were  revived  and  new  ones  were  invented ;  no 
class  of  persons,  no  kind  of  wealth,  was  allowed  to  escape. 
It  was  in  part  because  of  the  difficulty  of  valuing  personal 
property,  and  partly  from  a  wish  to  conciliate  the  people, 
that  the  assessment  of  taxes  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  local 
juries.  It  was  during  Richard's  reign  also  that  it  became 
customary  to  intrust  the  choice  of  the  juries  of  recognition 
and  presentment  to  the  freeholders  of  the  shire.  Thus  the 
principles  of  election  and  representation  were  slowly  making 
their  way  into  the  administrative  system. 

Social  Progress  under  the  Early  Axgevins 

National  Development.  —  During  the  half  century  that 
had  elapsed  since  the  treaty  of  Wallingford  a  new  nation  had 
sprung  into  existence.  Under  the  rule  of  the  Angevin  the 
differences  between  Norman  and  Englishman  had  well-nigh 
disappeared.  The  Great  Charter  of  the  next  reign  takes  no 
note  of  race  distinctions.  Men  of  English  birth  if  not  of 
English  blood  filled  high  places  in  Church  and  State. 
The  court  still  used  French,  but  the  Norman  barons  had 
begun  to  learn  the  vernacular,  and  by  the  beginning  of 
the  thirteenth  century  English  was  the  generally  spoken 
tongue.^ 

Literary  Revival.  —  The  literary  activity  which  marked 
Henry  I's  reign  had  almost  died  out  during   the   anarchy 

1  Latin  continued  to  be  the  language  of  literature. 


no 


The  Fusion  of  Races 


Green, 

pp.  117-121. 
Green,  Henry 
the  Second, 
Ch.  X. 

Traill,  I, 
344-356. 


Learning 
at  the 
royal  court. 


Traill,  I, 
339-343- 


that  followed.  William  of  Malmesbury  had  no  succes- 
sor, and  in  1154  the  Saxon  Chronicle  came  to  an  end. 
But  with  the  closing  years  of  the  century  the  new  impulses 
that  were  stirring  the  life  of  the  people  found  vigorous  ex- 
pression in  a  great  literary  outburst.  A  wide  gulf  separated 
the  new  literature  from  the  old.  In  its  secular  tone,  its 
fulness  and  freedom  of  treatment,  its  wide  range  of  subjects, 
wide  as  the  scope  of  the  Angevin  interests,  it  spoke  of  the 
court  rather  than  of  the  cloister.  Under  Henry  II  the 
royal  court  had  in  fact  become  a  centre  of  learning,  and 
although  the  greatest  of  the  early  Angevin  historians,  William 
of  Newburgh,  lived  and  wrote  in  a  remote  Yorkshire  mon- 
astery, most  of  the  writers  of  the  time  were  statesmen  and 
diplomatists  rather  than  monks.  One  was  the  king's  treas- 
urer, another  an  itinerant  judge,  another  a  royal  chaplain.-^ 
They  were  a  part  of  the  working  world,  and  in  their  writings 
were  reflected  all  aspects  of  national  thought  and  activity. 
Disregard  of  old  forms,  revolt  against  narrow  tradition,  a 
living  interest  in  actual  events,  eager  seeking  after  new  and 
higher  things,  characterized  the  literature  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. The  writings  of  Richard  Fitz-Nigel  and  Roger  of  How- 
den,  men  prominent  in  the  administration,  are  a  record  at 
first  hand  of  the  reigns  of  Henry  and  Richard.  Gerald  the 
Welshman,  cousin  to  the  Fitz-Geralds  who  took  part  in  the 
conquest  of  Ireland,  accompanied  John  on  his  journey 
thither,  and  came  back  to  write  two  books  on  that  country 
in  the  effective  off-hand  style  of  a  newspaper  correspondent 
of  to-day.  Every  stage  in  the  career  of  Thomas  of  London 
was  carefully  recorded  by  his  friends  and  followers.  In  the 
Confessions  of  Bishop  Goliath  Walter  Map  held  up  the 
vices  of  the  Church  to  the  scorn  of  the  age,  while  in  Sir 
Galahad,  he  set  before  the  world  a  new  ideal  of  manhood. 

The  Universities.  —  The  same  vigorous  inquisitive  spirit 
was  revealed  in  the  great  communities  of  scholars  that  gath- 
ered at  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  The  first  use  of  the  word 
university  belongs  to  the  thirteenth  century,  but   even  in 

1  Richard  Fitz-Nigel,  Walter  Map,  Gerald  the  Welshman. 


The   Towns 


III 


Richard's  time  Oxford  was  a  school  of  European  fame  with 
regular  faculties,  thronged  with  eager  scholars  of  all  ages 
and  from  all  corners  of  the  kingdom  and  even  from  over- 
seas. Here  the  older  men  studied  law  and  theology,  while 
the  younger  were  taught  grammar  and  rhetoric  and,  later, 
mathematics  and  physical  sciences.  In  the  intercourse  be- 
tween men  of  all  classes  and  many  nations,  provincial  preju- 
dices gave  way  before  a  wider  interest  which  included  the 
whole  world  in  its  view.  At  Oxford  a  spirit  of  free  inquiry 
which  tended  to  break  away  from  narrow  ecclesiastical  tra- 
dition early  manifested  itself. 

The  Towns.  —  Even  more  than  the  universities  did  the 
towns  further  the  growth  of  a  spirit  of  freedom  and  self- 
dependence.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  wool  trade  and  '^ 
the  expansion  of  foreign  com- 
merce under  the  Angevins  had 
increased  the  wealth  and  im- 
portance of  the  towns,  and 
they  moved  steadily  toward 
municipal  freedom.  London 
was  always  in  the  lead,  and 
the  lesser  towns  made  the 
rights  which  it  had  secured  the 
goal  of  their  efforts.  By  the 
close  of  the  century  the  strug- 
gle for  self-government  was 
practically  complete.  Most  of 
the  towns  had  gained  charters 

which  gave  them  their  own  independent  courts  of  justice 
and  the  right  of  controlling  local  trade.  They  paid  their 
taxes  into  the  royal  treasury  in  a  lump  sum,  called  the  ferm, 
assessing  and  collecting  the  dues  themselves.  The  larger 
towns,  moreover,  were  beginning  to  acquire  the  right  of 
choosing  their  own  chief  officer,  the  mayor  or  reeve,  until 
now  nominated  by  the  crown.  The  commercial  privileges 
granted  were  usually  very  extensive.     By  the  ordinary  form 


Sun-  OF  Richard  I 

From  the  Ms.  of  Matthew  Paris 


Green, //f///;j 
the  Second, 
pp.  137-141. 
Traill.  I. 
359-367- 


Souiue-Book 
pp.  05-71. 


112 


The  Fusion  of  Races 


of  charter,  trade  was  to  be  "  quit  and  free  from  all  tolls,  dues, 
and  customs  at  fairs  or  otherwise,  in  all  harbors  throughout 
all  my  dominions,  both  by  the  hither  side  and  the  further 
side  of  the  sea,  by  land  and  by  strand." 

In  their  efforts  to  gain  the  privilege  of  self-government, 
the  towns  were  aided  by  the  necessities  of  the  king  and 
nobles,  who  were  often  in  sore  straits  to  meet  the  expense  of 
their  crusading  enterprises  and  were  willing  to  yield  some 
liberty  or  exemption  in  return  for  ready  money.  Each  right 
gained  was  a  matter  of  bargain.  Rye  and  Winchelsey 
secured  their  charters  from  Richard  by  supplying  him  with 
two  ships  for   one   of  his   expedidons,  and,  a   little   later, 

Portsmouth  obtained 
^^-     _.s-_  the  same  much-cov- 

eted possession  by 
paying  part  of  the 
royal  ransom. 

The  Merchant  Gild. 
—  A  most  important 
factor  in  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  towns 
was  the  influence  of 
-  the  merchant  gilds. 
With  the  develop- 
ment of  commerce 
and  industry,  trade 
had  become  the  rul- 
ing interest  in  the 
towns  and  the  mer- 
chant classes  the  most 
powerful  element  in 
the  life  of  the  com- 
munity. Their  associations  were  originally  formed  merely 
to  control  the  trade  of  the  place  or  to  secure  purely  commer- 
cial privileges,  such  as  the  right  of  holding  a  fair  or  exemp- 
tion from  paying  toll,  but,  including  as  they  did  the  influ- 
ential men  of  the  community,  and  strong  through  effective 


Exterior  of  the  Gild  House  of  the 
York  Merchants  Company 

Lambert,  Tivo  Thousand  Years  of  Gild  Life 


Trade  1 1 3 

organization,  they  naturally  took  the  lead  in  wringing  from 
the  crown  judicial  immunity  or  political  power.  Almost 
every  town  and  many  villages  possessed  a  gild,  and  it  was 
here  that  the  stirring,  vigorous  life  of  the  community  centred. 
Each  gild  had  its  hall  where  meetings  were  held  to  make 
rules  by  which  dishonest  trade  might  be  prevented  and 
non-gildsmen  kept  from  sharing  in  the  traffic  of  the  place. 

The  power  of  the  merchants  tended  to  become  tyrannical, 
and  already  artisans   in  some  of  the  crafts  endeavored  to 
combine  against  their  domination.     In  the  reign  of  Richard,   Rising  of 
the  artisans  of  London  led  by  one  of  the  aldermen,  William   Longbeard. 
Longbeard,  rose  in  a  vain  protest  against  alleged  injustice 
of  the  great  traders  in  the  assessment  of  taxes. 

Trade.  —  As  yet  there  was  little  freedom  of  commercial 
intercourse  ;  protection  and  monopoly  were  the  watchwords 
of  the  merchant  world  throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
trade  was  shackled  by  many  fetters.  The  business  code 
forbade  methods  now  looked  upon  as  entirely  legitimate  :  for 
example,  "  forestalling,"  or  buying  up  at  a  distance  in  order 
to  sell  at  a  higher  price  in  the  home  market,  and  "  engross- 
ing," or  buying  at  a  season  of  plenty  to  hold  over  until  a 
time  when  the  goods  were  dear. 

Internal  trade  depended  on  the  great  fairs,  and  the  right  Fairs, 
of  holding  them  was  dearly  prized  by  the  towns.  The  fair 
of  Stourbridge,  a  few  miles  from  Cambridge,  was  known 
throughout  Europe.  It  was  held  in  September,  and  for  days 
before  it  opened  the  roads  were  blocked  by  wagons  laden 
with  wares  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Silks  from  Genoa, 
the  linens  of  Flanders,  French  and  Spanish  wines,  were  dis- 
played side  by  side  with  the  home  traders'  stores  of  wool 
and  salt  fish.  The  narrow  streets  were  thronged  with  men 
of  all  classes,  merchant  and  noble,  soldier  and  priest.  For 
three  weeks  the  fair  went  on,  and  daily  the  mayor  sat  at  his 
court  "of  the  dusty  feet"  to  give  justice  between  disputing 
wayfarers,  and  on  Sunday  some  monk  from  the  neighboring 
priory  said  mass  in  the  chapel  that  stood  near  the  spot 
where  the  fair  was  held. 


114 


The  Fusion  of  Races 


Traill,  I, 
367-371- 


With  increased  prosperity  came  greater  refinement  and 
luxury.  The  houses  of  the  weahhy  merchants  were  often 
of  some  architectural  pretensions,  and  were  far  more  com- 
fortable than  the  fortress-like  dwellings  of  the  baronage. 
Within  the  cities  where  the  gilds  looked  after  their  own 
people,  a  little  attention  was  paid  to  sanitary  conditions  of 
living,  but  outside  the  walls,  where  those  not  admitted  to  the 
privileges  of  the  towns  were  herded  together  in  unrelieved 
dirt  and  squalor,  fever  and  plague  spread  unchecked. 


Seal  of  Henry  I 


Important  Events 

Reign  of  Henry  II,  1154-1189. 

Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  1164. 

Assize  of  Clarendon,  1166. 

Death  of  Archbishop  Thomas,  11 70. 

Invasion  of  Ireland.  1169-1172. 

Rising  of  the  Barons,  1173. 
Reign  of  Richard  I,  1189-1199. 

The  king  returns  from  the  crusade,  1 1 94, 


Chief  Contemporaries 


115 


H^ 


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5^  a. 

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Ph 

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§ 

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H 

s 

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ta 

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fe 


'5  ex 


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CHAPTER   V 

STRUGGLE   FOR  THE   CHARTER 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 


Stubbs,  Adams  and  Stephens,  as  before. 

Hill,  Liberty  Docunients. 

Huttcn,  English  Histoi-y  from    Contemporary    Writers;    Alisrule  of 

Henry  I  IF,  Simon  de  Montfort  and  his  Cause. 
Jacobs,  The  Jews  of  Angevin  England. 

Special  Authorities 

Taswell-Langmead,  Constitutional  History. 
.  Norgate,  John  Lackland. 
Richardson,  The  National  Movement  in  the  Reign  of  Henry  III. 
Pauli,  Life  of  Simon  de  Montfort. 
Jessopp,  Coming  of  the  friars. 
Jenks,  Edward  Plantagenet. 
Tout,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  HI. 
Hume-Brown,  History  of' Scotland. 
Stubbs,  Ramsay,  Adams,  Pollock,  as  before. 

Imaginative  Literature 
Shakespeare,  King  John. 

John^  (i  199-12 16).  —  The  third  king  of  the  Angevin  hne 
stands  out  as  the  most  vicious  and  worthless  of  all  English 

*  John,  1199-1216 

Henry  III,  m.  Eleanor    Joan,  m.  Alexander  II    Eleanor,  m.  Simon     Richard,  king  of 
1216-1272      I  of  Provence  of  Scotland  de  Montfort        the  Romans, 

I  d.  1271 

Edward  I,  m.  Eleanor  of  Castile     Edmund  Crouchback,    Margaret,  m.  Alexander  III 
1272- 1307  Earl  of  Lancaster,  d.  1295  of  Scotland 

116 


TJic  Loss  of  Normandy 


117 


monarchs.  Faithless  to  every  trust,  stained  with  every 
crime,  from  first  to  last  John's  Ufe  offers  not  one  redeeming 
trait,  not  one  saving  act.  And  yet  he  had  much  of  the 
abiHty  of  his  house,  together  with  an  extraordinary  power 
of  winning  the  love  of  men.  But  he  used  his  power  over 
others  only  to  their  undoing,  and  the  achievements  of  his 
undoubted  force  and  talent  were  rendered  vain  by  the  base- 
ness of  his  nature. 

The  reign  of  John  falls  naturally  into  three  periods,  each 
ending  in  crushing  defeat  and  humiliation  ;  in  the  first,  in- 
terest centred  in  the  wars  with  Philip  of  France,  during 
the  second,  the  king  was  carrying  on  a  fierce  contest  with 
Rome,  and  the  last  was  occupied  with  the  events  that  turned 
upon  the  granting  of  the  Great  Charter. 

The  Loss  of  Normandy.  —  John's  claim  to  succeed  his 
brother  met  with  no  opposition  in  England,  but  on  the 
Continent  he  was  confronted  with  a  dangerous  rival  in  his 
nephew,  Arthur  of  Brittany,  the  son  of  his  dead  brother 
Geoffrey.  The  young  prince  urged  the  claims  of  strict 
hereditary  succession,  and  he  had  a  strong  supporter  in 
the  French  king.  Philip  and  Arthur  soon  quarrelled,  how- 
ever, while  in  his  mother.  Queen  Eleanor,  John  had  a  wise 
and  experienced  counsellor,  and  within  a  few  months  he 
was  master  of  all  his  continental  possessions.  But  he  mis- 
used his  good  fortune,  and  quarrelled  with  the  barons  of 
Poitou,  thereby  giving  the  French  king  a  chance  to  inter- 
fere as  overlord.  On  John's  refusal  to  appear  before  Philip 
to  answer  the  charge  against  him,  he  was  declared  to  have 
forfeited  his  lands.  John's  position  was  already  critical 
when  his  difficulties  were  increased  by  the  mysterious  death 
of  the  young  Prince  Arthur  (1203),  who  had  fallen  into  his 
uncle's  hands.  The  king  was  accused,  and  probably  with 
justice,  of  having  murdered  his  nephew.  Philip,  quick 
to  take  advantage  of  the  storm  of  indignation  that  followed, 
pressed  boldly  forward  into  Normandy.  Hie  barons,  in- 
sulted and  wronged  by  John,  refused  to  rise  in  his  behalf, 
and  town  after  town  opened  its  doors  to  the  French  king. 


Green, 

pp.  122,  123. 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Fiantagenets 
pp.  129-135. 

Bright,  I, 
126-129. 

Green, 

pp.  115,  i-.\ 


Death  of 
Arthur,  1203 


ii8 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Fld)itagenets, 
pp.  136,  137. 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagencts, 
pp.  137-143. 

Bright,  I, 
130.  131- 


Stephen 
Langton. 


By  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1204  John's  rule  was  limited 
to  the  lands  south  of  the  Charente  ;  nothing  but  the  Channel 
Islands  remained  to  him  of  the  hereditary  possessions  of 
William  the  Conqueror  and  Geoffrey  of  Anjou. 

Consequences  of  the  Loss  of  the  French  Provinces.  —  That 
the  work  of  Henry  II  on  the  Continent  was  so  soon  undone 
was  due  in  part  to  the  great  ability  of  the  French  king,  and 
still  more  to  John's  worthlessness ;  but  the  ease  with  which 
Maine,  Normandy,  and  Anjou  became  a  part  of  France 
showed  how  impossible  was  the  project  of  an  Anglo- 
Angevin  empire.  To  England  the  loss  of  the  French 
provinces  was  an  event  of  far-reaching  importance.  The 
barons  were  compelled  to  choose  between  Normandy  and 
England,  and  those  who  threw  in  their  lot  with  the  island 
realm  became  now  for  the  first  time  wholly  English  in 
sympathy  and  interest.  For  the  first  time,  too,  since  the 
Conquest,  king  and  people  were  brought  face  to  face ;  John 
was  dependent  upon  England,  as  his  predecessors  had  not 
been ;  the  people  learned  to  know  their  ruler  as  never 
before. 

John's  Quarrel  with  the  Church. — The  death  (1204)  of 
Queen  Eleanor,  John's  mainstay  on  the  Continent,  had  been 
followed  by  defeat  in  Normandy;  and  when,  in  1205,  the 
king  lost  Hubert  Walter,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  his 
most  useful  and  devoted  servant,  he  at  once  plunged  into 
a  quarrel  with  Rome  which  ended  in  his  deep  humiliation. 
The  difficulty  arose  out  of  the  question  of  choosing  Walter's 
successor,  both  king  and  chapter  claiming  the  privilege. 
John  was  probably  in  the  right,  —  the  power  of  the  crown 
to  nominate  to  the  See  of  Canterbury  had  been  conceded 
even  by  Anselm,  —  but  he  prejudiced  his  cause  by  unreason- 
ing violence.  The  matter  was  laid  before  the  Roman  Curia. 
Pope  Innocent  decided  the  question  by  rejecting  the  candi- 
dates of  both  parties  and  causing  his  own  man  to  be  chosen. 
In  this  high-handed  action  he  probably  thought  chiefly  of 
advancing  the  interests  of  Rome  ;  but  when  he  nominated 
Stephen   Langton,   an   Englishman  already  known    for   his 


The  Interdict  and  Deposition  1 1 9 

great  learning  and  noble  character,  he  gave  to  England  an 
able  and  disinterested  leader  in  the  coming  struggle  for 
freedom. 

The  Interdict  and  Deposition.  —  John  refused  to  yield  Green, 
to  the  Pope's  decision.  Me  would  not  permit  the  new  P^"  ^^3"^^5- 
archbishop  to  enter  England.  Threat  he  met  by  counter- 
threat  ;  if  Innocent  laid  the  kingdom  under  interdict,  he 
would  banish  the  clergy  and  seize  their  goods.  But  Inno- 
cent III,  the  greatest  and  most  imperious  of  all  the  popes, 
was  not  one  to  draw  back,  and  in  1208  the  interdict  was  pro- 
claimed. The  churches  were  closed,  only  the  chapels  of 
a  few  privileged  orders  remaining  open  ;  the  dead  lay  un- 
buried,  or  were  placed  in  unconsecrated  ground  ;  no  sacra- 
ments were  administered  except  those  of  baptism  and 
extreme  unction.  The  nation  felt  itself  under  a  curse.  Still 
John  did  not  yield,  but  made  good  his  threats  by  subjecting 
the  clergy  to  great  outrage.  In  1209  the  Pope  struck  at 
the  king  in  person  by  excommunicating  him,  but  John 
met  excommunication  with  defiance.  He  seized  the  prop- 
erty of  the  bishops  and  used  it  to  carry  on  a  vigorous  war 
upon  the  Welsh  and  Irish  and  Scots.  There  was  but  one 
weapon  left  the  Pope,  and  the  time  to  use  it  was  come.  In 
1 21 2  Innocent  issued  a  bull  deposing  the  king,  absolving 
his  subjects  from  their  allegiance,  and  calling  upon  the 
French  king  to  execute  the  decree.  Even  yet  John  might 
have  proved  a  match  for  Rome  had  he  not  suddenly  found 
himself  confronted  by  rebellion  among  his  own  barons. 

Throughout   his  reign  John  had  insulted  and  oppressed  Stubbs, 
the  baronage.     He  had  seized  their  castles  and  held  their  ^pYj^tageneu 
children    as   hostages.     Illegal   and    burdensome    exactions  pp.  143-145. 
had    been  followed   by  repeated   demands  for  service  and 
scutage.     There  was   scarcely  one   among   them   but   had  ■ 
some  personal  ground    for  complaint.     Their   long  endur- 
ance of  John's  tyranny  bears  witness  to  the  strength  which 
Henry's  reforms  had  given  the  crown.     In  secret,  however, 
the  barons  were  plotting  against  the  king  ;  and  it  was  the 
discovery  at  this  juncture  of  their  conspiracies  with  Philip 


I20 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


Bright,  I, 

133. 134- 


Stubbs, 

Early 

Plantagenets, 

pp.  143,  145- 

1^9. 

Green,  pp. 

125-127. 


Source-Book, 
pp.  72-78. 


Ivleeting  at 
St.  Paul's, 
1313. 


Bright,  I, 
135-139- 


that  forced  John  to  yield.  His  decision  was  quickly  made, 
His  present  position  was  hopeless,  but  with  the  pope  ns  an 
ally,  he  could  defy  the  rest  of  his  foes.  On  the  15  th  of 
May,  1 213,  he  knelt  before  the  papal  legate,  Pandulf,  and, 
surrendering  his  realm  to  the  pope,  received  it  back  to 
hold  as  a  vassal  of  the  See  of  Rome. 

The  King  and  the  Barons.  —  John  and  the  pope  were 
now  reconciled,  but  this  did  not  improve  the  king's  relations 
with  his  subjects.  The  Church  still  stood  aloof;  and  for  the 
first  time  since  the  Conquest,  the  crown  could  expect  no 
support  from  the  clergy  in  a  contest  with  the  baronage. 

Regardless  of  the  dissatisfaction  already  existing,  John 
added  to  the  accumulated  grievances  of  his  vassals  by  de- 
manding that  they  should  follow  him  on  an  expedition  that 
he  was  planning  for  tlie  recovery  of  the  lost  French  prov- 
inces. At  last  the  smouldering  resentment  burst  into  open 
revolt,  and  on  all  sides  the  king  met  determined  opposition. 
They  would  serve  him  within  the  four  seas,  the  barons  said, 
but  cross  the  Channel  they  would  not. 

Hitherto  the  baronage  had  lacked  a  leader,  but  the  pope 
unwittingly  gave  them  one  in  Stephen  Langton,  who,  ever 
since  his  arrival  in  England,  had  been  untiring  in  his  efforts 
to  restrain  the  king  from  despotic  measures.  Already  John 
had  been  brought  to  the  point  of  promising  through  his 
justiciar,  Geoffrey  Fitz-Peter,  that  he  would  henceforth  abide 
by  the  old-time  laws.  On  the  outbreak  of  insurrection,  Lang- 
ton  came  forward  with  practical  statesmanship  to  give  the 
nation  a  definite  basis  of  action.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
barons  at  St.  Paul's  in  August  (1213),  he  displayed  the 
half-forgotten  charter  of  Henry  I,  and  proposed  that  it  be 
presented  to  the  king  as  expressing  the  terms  on  which 
he  should  govern. 

But  John  met  all  demands  with  evasion.  He  was  about 
to  start  on  the  expedition  to  France,  from  which  he  hoped 
much.  Although  he  could  obtain  no  aid  from  the  barons, 
on  whom  he  now  lost  his  last  hold  by  the  death  of  Geoffrey 
Fitz-Peter,  he  had  succeeded  in  gathering  together  a  large 


TJie  Great  Charter  I2i 

force  of  mercenaries.  During  the  next  few  montlis  the  fate 
of  England  trembled  in  the  balance.  Had  John  returned 
from  France  victorious,  the  rebellious  barons  would  have  had 
no  chance ;  the  overwhelming  victory  of  the  French  at 
Bouvines  in  July,  12 14,  gave  the  signal  for  the  triumph 
of  English  liberties. 

Rising  of  the  Barons.  —  Matters  at  once  came  to  a  crisis 
in  England.  The  northern  barons  took  the  lead,  but  they 
were  soon  joined  by  many  others.  At  Christmas  time  they 
appeared  in  arras  before  the  king,  and  demanded  that  the 
old  liberties  should  be  restored.  John  asked  time  for  con- 
sideration, and  at  once  attempted  to  divide  his  foes.  He 
appealed  to  Rome,  he  promised  to  respect  the  privileges 
of  the  clergy,  he  put  himself  under  the  especial  protection 
of  the  Church  by  taking  the  cross  as  a  crusader,  he  de- 
manded the  oath  of  allegiance  from  every  free  man,  and  he 
summoned  mercenaries  from  Poitou. 

The  barons  immediately  reassembled.  In  May  London 
opened  its  gates  to  them,  and  a  little  later  they  were  joined 
by  the  royal  ministers.  The  king,  deserted  by  all  save  his 
kinsmen  and  favorites  and  the  foreign  soldiers,  was  forced 
to  yield.  On  the  15th  of  June,  1215,  he  met  his  outraged  Grantofthe 
vassals  at  Runnymede,  near  Windsor  on  the  Thames,  and  Charter, 
made  full  submission  in  setting  his  seal  to  the  charter  of 
liberties  which  they  laid  before  him. 

The  Great  Charter. — The  first  step  in  the  struggle  for  pop-   Qreen, 
ular  government  was  won.      In  the  words  of  Bishop  Stubbs,  pp.  128-131. 
"The  maintenance  of  the  Charter  becomes  henceforth  the   1?"'^'°*^ 

Charter  — 

watchword  of  English  freedom."      In  form  the  Great  Char-  Latin: 

ter  was   a   royal   grant ;    in  reality  it  was   a   formal   state-  Stubbs, 

ment  of  liberties  wrung  from  the  king  by  the  united  action  charters; 

of  the  people  of  England.     It  contained  little  that  was  new,  English: 

but  it  expressed  with  exactness  what  before  was  undefined.  Old  South 

'  .   Leaflets, 

Thoroughly  English   in  spirit,  there  was   no   statement   of  ^^  ^^ 

abstract  rights  ;  everything  was  thrown  into  concrete,  practi-   Hill ; 

cal  form.     No  class,  no  interest,  was  overlooked.     Some  of  Adams  and 

.  ,         Stephens. 

the  provisions  limited  the  power  of  the  kmg  over  his  vassals  ; 


122  Struggle  for  the  Charter 

others  protected  the  villain  against  his  lord.  To  the  Church 
were  secured  its  ancient  liberties  ;  to  the  towns,  their  newly 
bought  privileges.  The  care  with  which  the  interests  of  the 
merchants  were  protected  shows  the  increasing  importance 
of  trade. 

Some  of  the  sixty-three  articles  of  the  charter  related  to 
merely  temporary  matters  ;  others  were  valuable  for  all  time. 
The  principles  upon  which  the  whole  English  judicial  system 
is  based  were  expressed  in  the  words  "  No  freeman  shall  be 
taken  or  imprisoned,  or  disseised,^  or  outlawed,  or  banished 
.  .  .  unless  by  the  lawful  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  by  the 
law  of  the  land."  "  We  will  sell  to  no  man,  we  will  not  deny 
to  any  man,  either  justice  or  right."  Among  the  most  im- 
portant articles  were  the  two  which  limited  the  power  of  the 
king  in  matters  of  taxation.  "  No  scutage  or  aid  shall  be 
imposed  in  our  kingdom,  unless  by  the  general  council  of 
our  kingdom  ;"  and  "  For  the  holding  of  the  general  coun- 
cil of  the  kingdom  ...  we  shall  cause  to  be  summoned  the 
archbishops,  bishops,  abbots,  earls,  and  greater  barons  of  the 
realm  singly,  by  our  letters.  And  furthermore  we  shall  cause 
to  be  summoned  generally  by  our  sheriffs  and  bailiffs,  all 
others  who  hold  of  us  in  chief." 
Stubbs,  Renewal  of  the  Struggle.  —  In  words,  the  recognition  of 

^'a^d*  the  national  liberties  was  ample,  but  how  insure  the  fulfil- 

ment of  the  promise?  how  control  a  king  whom  no  oath 
could  bind?  In  the  charter  itself  it  was  arranged  that  a 
council  of  twenty-five  barons  should  be  chosen  to  enforce 
its  provisions.  Authority  was  given  them  to  make  war  upon 
the  king  if  he  should  fail  to  do  justice.  "They  have  given 
me  five-and-twenty  overkings,"  protested  John,  and  he  at 
once  turned  to  seek  a  way  of  evasion. 

Civil  war  followed.  Innocent,  with  little  comprehension 
of  the  question  at  issue,  freed  the  king  from  his  oath  and 
recalled  Langton  to  Rome.  John  summoned  to  his  aid 
Poitevin  and  Flemish  mercenaries  and  for  a  time  swept  all 
before  him.     The  barons  in  despair  renewed  the  intrigues 

1  Dispossessed  of  land. 


Plan/age  nets, 
pp.  150-153 


Minority  of  He7iry  III  123 

with  the  French  king,  and  in  1216,  Louis,  the  French  prince, 
to  whom  they  had  offered  the  crown,  entered  England  at 
the  head  of  an  army.  Quicl<.ly  the  tide  turned,  since  the 
hired  soldiers  refused  to  fight  against  the  son  of  their  king. 
John's  cause  was  not  lost,  however,  when  he  suddenly  died. 

Minority  of  Henry  III  (1216-1227).  —  John's  death  trans-   Stubbs, 
formed  the  situation.     A  large  portion  of  the  country  was  in  j^lJt^.ggnen, 
the  hands  of  the  insurgents  and  their  allies,  and  the  kingdom   pp.  155-158, 
was  in  a  fair  way  to  come  under  the  rule  of  France.     But  it  160-164. 
was  fear  and  hatred  of  John  that  had  led  the  barons  to  call 
in  Louis.    John  dead,  national  feeling  reasserted  itself,  and  the 
coalition  began  to  break  up.     Nevertheless,  England   might 
even  yet  have  passed  under  foreign  rule  but  for  the  patriotic 
course  of  the  greatest  of  the  barons,  William  Marshall,  Earl  William 
of  Pembroke.     Aided  by  Gualo,  the  papal  legate,  he  caused  Marshall. 
Henry,  the  young  son  of  John,  to  be  crowned  king,  reissued 
the  Charter,  thus  detaching  many  of  the  barons  from  the 
French  alliance,  and,  by  his  vigorous  efforts,  succeeded  in 
obliging  Louis  to  withdraw. 

The  following  years  were  occupied  in  reestablishing  the   Bright,  I, 
government.     In   the    minority  of  the   young   king,  Pem-   ^41-150- 
broke  acted  as  regent  until  his  death  in  12 19.      He  was 
succeeded  by  the  justiciar,  Hubert  de  Burgh,  who  continued   Hubert 
his  work,  carrying  on  the  administration  according  to  the   ^^    ""^^ 
principles  of  the  Charter.     De  Burgh's  efforts  to  give  Eng- 
land sound  government  were  complicated  by  the  presence 
of  foreigners,  the  former  supporters  of  John,  and  by  the  re- 
appearance of  the  spirit  of  feudal  lawlessness  among  the 
barons.     The  attempts  of  the  Pope  to  interfere  in  the  con- 
duct of  affairs  was  a  further  embarrassment.      But  the  justi- 
ciar succeeded  in  expelling  the  foreigners,  and,  by  reoccupying 
the  royal  casdes,  put  a  check  on  the  barons,  while  Langton 
crowned  his  services  to  the  cause  of  constitutional  freedom 
by  obtaining  the  promise  that  during  his  lifetime  no  Roman 
legate  should  be  sent  to  England. 

The  years  of  Henry's  minority  were  a  period  of  quiet 
national  growth,  of  awakening   political   consciousness,  of 


124 


Struggle  for  the  Charier 


Green, 

pp.  147-152. 


spiritual  and  moral  regeneration.  The  loss  of  the  French 
provinces  had  removed  the  last  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
national  unity,  so  far  as  the  barons  were  concerned.  At  the 
same  time  a  great  movement  within  the  Church  was  prepar- 
ing the  people  for  political  action. 

The  Friar  Movement.  —  In  the  thirteenth  century  the 
temporal  power  of  Rome  was  at  its  height,  but  secular 
advance  had  been  attained  at  the  expense  of  spiritual  influ- 
ence. The  monastic  revival  of  the  preceding  century  had 
spent  itself,  and  old  and  new  orders  alike  were  corrupt  and 


Dominicans 

and 

Franciscans. 


LONGTHORPE  MANOR   HOUSE.      BUILT   ABOUT   I235 
Hudson  Turner,  Domestic  Architecture 

self-seeking.      Heresy  was  growing   rife,   and  the   spiritual 
welfare  of  the  people  was  neglected. 

It  was  the  mission  of  two  great  religious  orders  that 
sprang  suddenly  into  existence  early  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, to  recall  the  Church  to  its  duty.  Unlike  the  earlier 
monks,  the  friars  sought  not  their  own  salvation  apart  from 
the  world,  but  strove  to  save  the  souls  and  bodies  of  others. 
The  Order  of  Preachers,  as  the  followers  of  Dominic  the 
Castilian  were  called,  directed  their  eloquence  against  popu- 
lar heresies,  while  Francis  d'Assisi  and  his  gray-frocked 
brethren  labored  to  relieve  the  misery  and  degradation  of 
the  common  people.     Bound  by  vows  of  poverty  that  were 


^/\jZX'^^-JO 


The  Friai's  in  EnHand 


,.P^^ff^ 


real,  the  barefooted  friars  wandered  through  all  lands.  They 
turned  to  the  towns,  neglected  by  the  older  orders,  nursing 
the  sick  and  befriending  the  outcast.  They  preached  in 
the  crowded  market-place  in  words  that  all  could  under- 
stand, driving  home  each  truth  with  apt  anecdote  or  homely 
illustration  drawn  from  the  world  of  nature  or  from  the  daily 
experience  of  those  to  whom  they  spoke. 

The   Friars    in    England.  —  The    Dominicans    or    Black 
Friars  reached  England  in  1220,  and  four  years  later  they 


Wells  Cathedral.    West  Front 


were  followed  by  the  Franciscans.  There  was  little  heresy 
to  combat  in  England,  but  among  the  forlorn  dwellers 
outside  the  walls  of  the  rapidly  growing  towns  there  was 
urgent  need  of  the  practical  labors  of  the  Franciscans. 
They  soon  became  the  more  popular  of  the  two  orders. 
The  Enghsh  clergy  had  shared  in  the  general  deteriora- 
tion of  the  Church.  The  great  ecclesiastics  were  worldly 
minded,  and  the  parish  priests  were  ignorant  and  de- 
graded. The  needs  of  the  people  were  neglected  by  both 
ahke.  The  coming  of  the  friars  worked  a  revolution  in 
the  life  of  the  nation.  The  indifference  of  the  laity  and 
the  hostility  of  the  clergy  were  not  proof  against  their  ar- 


r^ 


126 


Traill,  I, 
429-440. 


Roger 
Bacon. 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


dor  and  devotion.  They  aroused  the  Church  to  a  new  sense 
of  its  duties,  and  urged  the  people  to  holier  and  healthier 
living. 

The  influence  of  the  friars  on  national  thought  was  of 
great  importance.  With  true  instinct  they  had  made  their 
way  at  once  to  Oxford,  where  thousands  of  youth  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  were  gathered.  At  first  the  Fran- 
ciscans set  their  faces  against  all  learning,  but  they  soon 
saw  that  training  in  theology  and  medicine  was  necessary 
for  the  success  of  their  work,  and  in  a  short  time  they  had 
established  their  schools  at  Oxford.  Under  the  inspiration 
of  their  teachings  the  dark  lecture  rooms  were  thronged 
with  eager  learners.  The  friars  gave  to  education  a  utili- 
tarian bent.  The  old  zeal  in  learning  for  learning's  sake 
died  out  before  the  interest  they  lent  to  the  study  of 
theology  and  practical  science.  Roger  Bacon,  himself  a 
Franciscan,  bears  witness  in  his  writings  ^  to  the  changed 
temper  of  his  University  of  Oxford.  First  of  English  phi- 
losophers, and  last  and  greatest  representative  of  the  wider 
culture  of  the  preceding  generation,  he  labored  for  many 
years  to  arouse  men  to  an  interest  in  the  great  world  of 
knowledge  outside  the  narrow  scholastic  bounds.  But  the 
appeal  was  lost  upon  his  contemporaries  ;  in  the  end  he  was, 
as  he  himself  wrote,  "unheard,  forgotten,  buried." 

On  the  political  temper  of  the  time  the  influence  of  the 
friars  was  strong  and  invigorating.  Preachers  of  the  people, 
they  wandered  from  place  to  place  and  helped  to  spread  new 
ideas,  to  form  public  opinion.  In  thought  and  habit  of 
life  they  were  democratic,  and  their  sympathies  were  with 
the  poor.  Through  their  dramatic  open-air  preaching  they 
roused  their  hearers  to  new  conceptions  of  the  duties  of 
kings  and  the  rights  of  subjects.  It  was  this  propaganda 
that  threw  the  influence  of  the  towns  and  universities  on 
the  popular  side  in  the  coming  struggle  with  the  crown. 
The  contest  against  royal  misrule  which  filled  the  later 
years  of  Henry's  reign  is  called  the  Barons'  War,  but  it  was 

1  The  Opus  Majus,  an  encyclopaedia  of  the  knowIed<^e  of  the  day. 


Rule  of  Henry  III 


127 


the  consciousness  that  behind  them  stood   the  nation  that 
nerved  the  barons  to  rise  against  the  king. 

Rule  of  Henry  III.  —  In  1227  Henry  declared  himself 
of  age,  and  thenceforward  his  character  told  upon  the 
course  of  events.  Deeply  religious,  moral,  refined,  he  had 
few  of  the  vices  of  his  father,  but  on  the  other  hand  he 
-had  little  of  the  force  and  political  capacity  that  had  marked 
his  house  heretofore.  Throughout  his  long  reign  he  showed 
himself  weak  and  vacillating,  incapable  both  of  fulfilling  the 
wishes  of  his  subjects  and  of  carrying  out  a  vigorous  policy 
of  his  own.  His  rule  was  characterized  by  misgovernment 
at  home  and  inefficiency  abroad.  To  assert  the  power  of 
the  crown  he  turned  his  ministers  out  of  office,  filling  their 
places  with  men  dependent  upon  himself.  Thus  in  1232, 
Hubert  de  Burgh,  last  of  the  great  justiciars,  was  dismissed, 
to  be  replaced  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Peter  des 
Roches,  a  Poitevin.  Later  Henry  tried  to  be  his  own  chief 
minister  and  to  carry  on  the  government  without  treasurer, 
chancellor,  or  justiciar  ;  but  he  lacked  the  ability  and  energy 
for  this,  and  the  result  was  hopeless  disorder.  The  nation 
groaned  under  the  rule  of  foreigners,  favorites  of  the  king, 
or  kinsfolk  of  his  mother  and  wife.  In  their  hands  were 
placed  the  royal  castles  and  the  high  offices,  to  them  were 
intrusted  the  defence  and  administration  of  the  realm,  on 
them  was  squandered  one-sixth  of  the  royal  revenue. 
Extravagant  and  wasteful,  the  king  was  ever  in  need  of 
money  and  ever  demanding  supplies.  His  debts  soon 
amounted  to  more  than  four  times  his  annual  income. 
Every  expedient  to  fill  the  treasury  was  used.  Offices  were 
sold,  loans  were  wrung  from  the  great  nobles,  clergy  and 
laity  alike  were  called  upon  for  new  and  burdensome  aids. 
The  weight  of  taxation  was  increased  by  the  king's  foreign 
expeditions.  Unable  to  see  that  England's  true  interest  lay 
within  the  four  seas,  he  was  constantly  engaging  in  the 
quarrels  of  continental  kings,  or  scheming  to  regain  the  lost 
provinces.  An  attempt  to  recover  Poitou  (1242)  ended  in 
the  loss  of  all  lands  in  France  except  Aquitaine. 


Stubbs, 

Early 

Plantageiiets 

PP-  154.  155. 

165; 

Green, 

pp.  143-146. 

Source-Book^ 
pp.  78-84. 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Pla)itageneti 
pp.  165-167 


Bright,  I, 
151-158. 


128 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp.  172-175- 


England  and  the  Pope.  —  Not  by  the  king  alone  was  the 
unhappy  reahii  plundered  and  pillaged.  Since  John's  sub- 
mission, the  pope  had  looked  upon  England  as  a  vassal 
kingdom  bound  to  contribute  to  the  needs  of  the  Holy  See. 
Langton's  death  in  1228  was  followed  by  an  attempt  of  the 
pope  to  secure  an  increase  of  revenue.  Large  sums  were 
exacted  from  the  clergy,  and  many  of  the  best  livings  of  the 
Church  were  bestowed  on  Italians.  Under  Innocent  IV 
the  extortions  rnultiplied,  and  a  special  agent,  Master  Mar- 
tin, was  sent  to  England  to  wring  whatever  he  could  from 
the  people.  Under  the  leadership  of  Grosseteste,  Bishop 
of  Lincoln,  clergy  and  laity  made  common  cause  in  resisting 
these  spoliations.  They  sent  protests  to  the  pope,  and 
appealed  to  the  king  for  protection,  but  in  vain.  The 
demands  of  Rome  increased  year  by  year.  Grosseteste  de- 
clared that  the  pope's  nominees  drew  from  the  realm  a 
revenue  three  times  as  great  as  the  royal  income.  Henry 
gave  the  country  no  help,  since  both  devoutness  and  per- 
sonal gratitude  bound  him  to  the  pope.  Self-interest  led 
him  to  connive  at  the  papal  exactions  in  return  for  papal 
support  in  his  dealings  with  his  subjects. 

Feeling  of  the  People.  —  Year  by  year  the  discontent  of 
the  nation  increased,  and  finally  it  found  expression.  In 
1237  the  council  declared  in  words  that  sum  up  the  long 
list  of  grievances,  "  that  it  would  be  unworthy  of  them  and 
injurious  to  allow  a  king  who  was  so  easily  led  astray,  who 
had  never  repulsed  or  frightened  even  the  least  of  the 
enemies  of  his  kingdom,  who  had  never  extended  the 
borders  of  his  realm,  but  had  contracted  it  and  brought 
it  under  the  rule  of  foreigners,  to  so  often  extort  so  much 
money  from  them,  his  natural  subjects,  as  though  they  were 
slaves  of  lowest  degree."  Over  and  over  again  the  barons 
attempted  to  bind  the  king  through  renewals  of  the  Charter 
purchased  at  a  heavy  price,  but  in  vain.  The  king  took  the 
money,  but  failed  to  keep  his  word.  "  The  king  breaks 
everything,  the  laws,  his  good  faith,  and  his  promises,"  wrote 
the  monk,  Mattliew  Paris.     In  1242  the  Council,  now  begin- 


Simon  de  Montfort 


129 


ning  to  be  known  as  the  Parliament,  went  so  far  as  to  refuse 
Henry's  request  for  a  subsidy,  and  two  years  later  an  attempt 
was  made  to  secure  the  appointment  of  officials  who  should  act 
in  all  administrative  matters  and  be  held  responsible  to  Par- 
liament. The  innovation  was  too  great  to  find  acceptance, 
but  it  indicated  the  advance  the  nation  was  making  in  the  con- 
ception of  self-government.  Still  more  important  was  the  ap- 
pearance in  the  great  council  of  1254  of  knights  of  the  shire,  Knights  of 
men  elected  by  the  shire  court  to  report  on  the  amount  of  *^®  Shire, 
money  their  counties  were  willing  to  contribute  to  the  king's 
necessities.  Throughout  these  dreary  years  of  misrule, 
marked  only  by  unsatisfied  greed  and  fruitless  opposition, 
the  form  and  spirit  of  constitutional  rule  were  taking 
shape.  Slowly  men  were  learning  the  identity  of  national 
interest.     Still  more  slowly,  the  way  to  secure  that  interest. 

Simon  de  Montfort.  —  That  revolt  was  so  long  delayed  stubbs 
was  due  in  part  to  apathy  in  the  nation,  but  still  more  to  E^rfy 
lack  of  a  leader.  All  who  had  led  in  the  earlier  struggles 
with  the  crown  were  dead,  Hubert  de  Burgh,  Stephen  Lang- 
ton,  his  successor,  Edmund  Rich,  and  Grosseteste.  But 
among  the  swarm  of  hated  aliens  was  a  man  who  was  soon 
to  stand  forth  as  the  chief  opponent  of  Henry  and  his 
oppressive  rule.  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester  and 
brother-in-law  of  the  king,  was  at  first  scarcely  distinguish- 
able from  other  foreign  favorites  at  the  court,  but  by  1244 
he  had  ranged  himself  definitely  on  the  side  of  the  barons. 
During  the  years  that  followed  he  was  much  abroad  on 
public  business,  but  in  1257  he  returned  to  England  and 
at  once  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  opposition.  It 
is  not  easy  to  understand  Simon  de  Montfort 's  true  char- 
acter, nor  to  mark  the  steps  by  which  the  French  courtier 
was  transformed  into  the  English  patriot.  Even  to  the  men 
of  his  own  time  his  character  and  career  seemed  full  of 
contradictions.  Generous  and  high-spirited,  he"  was  also 
overbearing  and  impatient  of  opposition.  He  showed  him- 
self firm  in  his  patriotic  purpose,  yet  it  is  difficult  to  free 
him  from  the  reproach  of  ambition.    But  whatever  his  faults, 


Plaiiiagenets 
pp.  184-187 ; 
Green, 
pp.  152-154. 


I30 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


Stubbs, 

Early 

Plaiitagenets, 

pp.  187-201 ; 

Green, 

pp.  154-160. 


he  gave  the  people  the  guidance  and  inspiration  they  so 
much  needed  and  advanced  England  on  the  road  toward 
constitutional  freedom. 

The  Barons'  War.  —  In  1258  matters  came  to  a  crisis. 
Misled  by  foolish  ambition,  Henry  had  consented  to  be- 
come the   tool    of  Innocent    IV   in    his   quarrels  with    the 


Provisions 
of  Oxford. 

Bright,  1. 
159-162. 


Wklls  Cathedral.    Dedicated  1239 

House  of  Hohenstaufen,  and  had  pledged  England  to  fur- 
nish the  sums  necessary  for  carrying  on  the  pope's  wars. 
The  patience  of  the  country  was  at  last  exhausted  and  the 
king's  demand  for  one-third  the  revenue  of  all  England  was 
met  by  open  revolt.  Under  the  lead  of  Leicester,  the  barons 
appeared  in  arms  before  Henry  and  demanded  sweeping  re- 
forms in  the  administration.  Unable  to  resist,  the  king  con- 
ceded all  that  was  asked  and,  with  his  son  Edward  swore  to 
observe  the  articles  drawn  up  by  the  barons  in  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Oxford,  —  the  Mad  Parliament,  as  it  was  called  by 


The  Parliament  of  126^  1 31 

the  king's  partisans.  By  the  new  scheme,  the  government 
was  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  king  and  intrusted  to 
three  committees  made  up  of  barons.  This  was  an  awk- 
ward and  cumbersome  device,  sure  to  break  down  of  its 
own  weight. 

For  five  years  England  was  governed  in  accordance  with 
the  Provisions  of  Oxford,  but  signs  of  weakness  were  soon 
manifest.  Many  of  the  barons  were  seeking  their  own  ad- 
vancement rather  than  the  national  good ;  and  it  was  only 
by  the  combined  efforts  of  Simon  and  Prince  Edward,  who 
had  accepted  the  changes  in  the  government  in  good  faith, 
that  they  were  brought  in  1259  to  extend  to  their  vassals 
the  concessions  they  had  wrung  from  the  king.  Moreover, 
a  breach  soon  appeared  between  de  Montfort  and  the  greater 
barons.  They  feared  his  ambition,  and  he  accused  them  of 
treachery.  Henry,  faithless  as  ever,  induced  the  Pope  to 
absolve  him  from  his  oath  and  made  repeated  attempts  to 
free  himself  from  baronial  control. 

In  the  hope  of  avoiding  bloodshed  both  parties  agreed 
to  refer  the  dispute  to  Louis  IX  of  France.     Louis  was  a   Bright,  i, 
saint,  but  he  did  not  understand  the  situation  in  England.   162-168. 
He  saw  in  the  demands  of  the  barons  an  attempt  to  restore 
feudal  rule,  and  the  judgment  which  he  gave  was  in  favor 
of  the    crown.     Many    of  the  great   barons  accepted   the 
Mise  of  Amiens,  as    Louis's  decision  was  called,  but   the 
others,  led  by  de   Montfort  and    supported   by  the  lower 
clergy,  the  towns,  and  the   universities,  rose    in  resistance. 
At  Lewes,  on  the   14th  of  May,  1264,  the  two  forces  met;   Lewes,  1264 
the   Royalists   were   completely  defeated,  and    Henry  and 
Edward  were  taken  prisoners. 

The  Parliament  of  1265.  —  During  the  year  following 
Leicester  ruled  England  in  the  king's  name,  but  his  path  was 
beset  with  difficulties.  To  strengthen  his  position  he  took 
the  step  which  has  brought  lasting  honor  upon  his  name. 
Turning  to  the  people,  he  called  a  Parliament  to  which,  in 
addition  to  the  baronage,  he  summoned  two  knights  from 
every  shire  and  with  them  two  burgesses  from  every  borough. 


132 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


Evesham, 
1265. 

Source-Book, 
pp.  84-89. 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp.  202-205. 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp.  210-215. 


Bright,  I, 
193-196. 


Knights  and  burgesses  had  long  met  in  the  county  court  to 
discuss  their  common  interests ;  now  for  the  first  time  they 
sat  side  by  side  with  bishops  and  barons  in  the  national 
council.  It  was  the  last  despairing  effort  of  the  great  earl. 
Already  his  government  was  giving  way  :  the  hostility  of  the 
pope,  the  jealousy  of  the  baronage,  the  loyalty  of  the  nation 
to  its  king  united  to  undermine  his  power.  Within  a  few 
months  the  country  was  again  at  war,  and  the  end  came 
soon.  At  Evesham  on  the  Welsh  border,  Simon  met  defeat 
and  death  (August  4,  1265). 

For  a  moment  it  seemed  that  the  Cause  of  freedom  was 
lost,  but  Prince  Edward,  the  victor  of  Evesham,  came  forward 
to  carry  on  Simon's  work.  The  remaining  years  of  Henry's 
reign  were  peaceful  and  prosperous.  The  strength  of  the 
opposition  was  broken  with  Leicester's  death,  and  through 
the  influence  of  Edward,  already  the  real  ruler  of  the  country, 
many  of  the  reforms  for  which  the  barons  had  contended 
were  granted  by  a  Parliament  which  met  at  Marlborough  in 
1267. 

Edward  I  (1272 -1307).  —  With  the  death  of  Henry  III 
ended  the  days  of  foreign  kingship.  English  in  name  and 
English  in  feeling,  Edward  I,  greatest  of  the  Plantagenets, 
stands  out  as  a  truly  national  king.  A  man  of  action, 
thoroughly  in  earnest,  and  convinced  of  the  righteousness 
of  his  purpose,  he  was  often  impatient  and  high-handed  ; 
but  he  was  generous  and  wise  and  just,  and  not  without 
reason  were  the  words,  Pactutn  serva,  inscribed  upon  his 
tomb  by  a  later  generation  as  the  motto  of  his  life. 

Legislation.  —  Edward  came  to  the  throne  with  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  task  before  him.  He  originated  little 
that  was  new,  but  he  worked  out  in  detail  and  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  his  generation  the  materials  that  lay  ready  to 
hand.  It  was  an  age  of  lawyers  and  law-making,  and  in 
this  Edward  typified  his  time.  He  has  been  called  the 
English  Justinian,  and  the  far-reaching  legislation  of  his 
reign  makes  it  an  epoch  in  English  legal  history.  Edward 
developed  the  judicial  system  along  the  lines   already  laid 


Financial  Measures 


133 


down,  organizing  tlie  central  courts  of  justice  into  three 
separate  tribunals,  the  Kirtg's  Bench,  the  Exchequer,  and 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  defined  and  limited  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  by  the  Statute 
of  Mortmain^  in  1279  restricted  the  giving  of  lands  to  the 
Church.  Another  important*  measure  was  the  Statute  Quia 
Emptores,  which  was  enacted  by  Parliament  in  1 290,  seemingly 
in  the  interests  of  the  baronage  ;  but  the  law,  by  putting  a 
check  on  sub-infeudation,  struck  a  fatal  blow  at  the  princi- 
ple of  feudalism. 

By  the  Statute  of  Winchester  (1285)  Edward  revived  and 
organized  the  ancient  institutions  of  police  and  defence. 
Every  man  was  forced  to  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  serve 
the  king  at  home,  and  every  district  was  made  responsible 
for  crimes  committed  within  its  bounds.  "  If  any  will  not 
obey  the  arrest,"  so  ran  the  statute,  "  the  officers  shall  levy 
the  hue  and  cry  upon  them,  and  such  as  keep  the  watch 
shall  follow  with  hue  and  cry  with  all  the  town  and  towns 
near,  and  so  hue  and  cry  shall  be  made  from  town  to  town 
until  that  they  be  taken  and  delivered  to  the  sheriff."  An- 
other provision  throws  light  on  the  disordered  state  of  the 
country :  "  And  further  it  is  commanded  that  highways 
leading  from  one  market  town  to  another  shall  be  en- 
larged so  that  there  be  neither  dyke,  tree,  nor  bush, 
whereby  a  man  may  lurk  to  do  hurt,  within  two  hundred 
foot  of  the  one  side  and  two  hundred  foot  on  the  other 
side  of  the  way." 

Financial  Measures.  —  Edward  was  quick  to  realize  the 
need  of  financial  reform.  He  caused  the  coinage  to  be  re- 
newed, and  ordered  that,  henceforth,  its  shape  should  be 
round  to  check  the  practice  of  clipping.  Trade  had  become 
a  matter  of  national  concern.  It  was  increasing,  and  the 
king's  rights  of  prize  were  of  great  value.^  In  1275  Edward 
agreed  to  accept  a  specified   custom  in  money  in  lieu  of 


Statute  of 
Winchester 


Stubbs, 
Select 
Charters, 
pp.  472-474. 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets 
pp.  215-220. 


1  Private  estates  were  often  surrendered  to  the  Church  as  a  device  for 
escaping  feudal  dues. 

2  Indefinite  payments  in  kind  exacted  from  native  exports. 


134 


Struggle  for  tJie  CJiartcr 


Green, 

pp.  223,  224. 

Expulsion  of 
the  Jews, 
1290. 


Green, 

pp.  163-169. 


the  old  tolls.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  Ancient  Custom, 
henceforth  an  important  part  of  the  royal  revenue. 

In  1290  Edward  banished  all  the  Jews  from  the  realm. 
Economic  considerations  united  with  religious  feeling  in 
this  act.  The  Jews  had  always  occupied  a  peculiar  position 
in  England.  Since  the  Conqueror's  day,  they  enjoyed  the 
especial  protection  of  the  king,  but  they  had  no  legal  rights 
against  him.  Repeatedly  the  crown  stood  between  them 
and  the  persecuting  frenzy  of  the  people,  but  in  return  had 
plundered  them  at  will.  In  spite  of  this  insecure  position 
they  had  prospered  greatly.  The  taking  of  usury  was  for- 
bidden to  Christians,  and  the  Jews  became  the  national 
money-lenders.  Religious  fervor  combined  with  jealous 
greed  to  rouse  against  them  the  hostility  of  the  Church  and 
the  laity.  Jewries  were  sacked  by  fanatic  mobs  and  laws 
were  passed  circumscribing  their  rights.  Finally  Edward 
yielded  to  the  representations  of  the  clergy  and  the  barons, 
and  in  return  for  a  large  grant  of  money,  ordered  their  ex- 
pulsion from  the  kingdom.  Some  sixteen  thousand  went 
into  exile,  and  for  nearly  four  centuries  no  Jew  set  foot  in 
England. 

The  Conquest  of  "Wales.  —  Edward  was  constantly  drawn 
away  from  the  congenial  task  of  legislation  by  matters  aris- 
ing outside  of  England.  He  was  not  indifferent  to  the  fate 
of  his  French  possessions,  on  the  contrary,  no  English  king 
did  more  for  the  welfare  of  Aquitaine  than  Edward  I ; 
and  although  he  strove  to  gain  his  ends  by  peaceful  meas- 
ures rather  than  by  war,  he  succeeded  in  making  himself 
respected  and  feared  abroad.  But  England  was  first  in  his 
plans,  and  he  saw,  as  no  one  before  him  had  seen,  that  the 
real  interests  of  the  island  kingdom  were  bounded  by  the 
four  seas.  His  foreign  policy,  in  a  word,  was  a  British 
policy,  the  union  of  all  Britain  under  one  rule,  and  to  that 
he  subordinated  continental  concerns. 

The  English  kings  had  long  claimed  the  princes  of  ^Vales 
as  their  vassals  and  had  often  forced  them  to  pay  homage. 
By  constant  fighting  the  lords  marchers  (p.  69)  had  slowly 


WALES 

REIGN   OF  EDWARD    I 

SCALE  OF  ENGLISH  MILES 
0        6      10  2U  30  I J 


Oftfltles  and  Fortreaaes * 


4        Longitude  West  from  Greenwich  3 


BOIWAY  4  CO.,ENGR'S,t 


136 


Struggle  for  the  Chaiier 


Llewelyn. 

Bright,  I, 
175-177- 


Statute  of 
Wales,  1283. 


Green, 

pp.  184-189. 


gained  control  of  the  borderlands,  until,  by  the  thirteenth 
century,  Anglesey  and  the  adjacent  mainland  alone  remained 
independent.  During  the  reign  of  Henry  III,  the  Welsh, 
under  Llewelyn,  Lord  of  Snowdon,  came  to  the  aid  of  de 
Montfort,  and  regained  part  of  their  lost  territories.  On 
the  accession  of  Edward  I,  Llewelyn  had  refused  to  pay 
homage ;  but  the  vigorous  measures  of  the  English  king 
forced  him  to  full  submission,  with  the  surrender  of  much  of 
his  domain.  Edward  at  once  set  about  reorganizing  the 
government  of  the  conquered  territory.  In  the  reforms  that 
he  introduced  he  unwisely  disregarded  Welsh  prejudices, 
and  a  formidable  revolt  broke  out  under  the  leadership  of 
Llewelyn  and  his  brother  David.  Edward  now  determined 
on  the  complete  conquest  of  the  country,  since  the  lawless 
and  turbulent  Welsh  princes  were  a  constant  menace  to  the 
peace  of  England.  Every  outbreak  was  sure  of  their  assist- 
ance, every  rebel  found  a  refuge  among  them.  It  was  plain 
there  could  be  no  lasting  tranquillity  until  they  were  subdued 
and  brought  under  English  rule. 

Large  forces  were  poured  into  Wales  (1282).  Llewelyn 
was  killed  early  in  the  struggle,  but  David  and  his  sup- 
porters, entrenched  in  the  inaccessible  fastnesses  of  Snow- 
don, held  out  during  the  winter.  In  the  following  summer 
he  was  captured,  tried  by  a  Parliament  convened  at  Shrews- 
bury, and  condemned  to  death  for  having  rebelled  against 
the  lord  to  whom  he  had  sworn  fealty.  With  David  ended 
the  last  hope  of  Welsh  independence.  Edward  had  now 
free  hand  in  Wales.  Taught  by  experience,  he  did  not  dis- 
regard the  customs  of  the  country  unnecessarily.  By  the 
Statute  of  Wales  passed  in  1283  the  English  shire  system 
was  introduced  and  the  government  placed  in  the  hands  of 
royal  officials.  To  make  good  his  hold  upon  the  country, 
the  king  built  a  strong  line  of  castles  along  the  frontier, 
—  Conway,  Carnarvon,  Harlech,  and  Beaumaris. 

Edward  and  Scotland.  —  During  the  thirteenth  century, 
the  diverse  race  elements  of  Scotland  were  slowly  coming 
together  and  national  feeling  was  growing,  even  though  the 


Edzvard  and  Scot/and 


137 


distinction  between  the  Celt  of  the  Highlands  and  the  Anglo- 
Norman  of  the  Lothians  was  still  sharply  marked.  Long- 
continued  peace  had  brought  increased  order  and  prosperity, 
yet  as  a  whole  the  northern  kingdom  lagged  behind  the 
southern  in  social  and  political  development.  The  crown 
was  weak,  the  baronage  strong  and  unruly,  there  were  few 
towns,  and  a  middle  class  scarcely  existed. 

For  centuries  the  political  relation  of  Scotland  to  England 
had  been  a  subject  of  dispute.     Relying  on  the  tradition  of 


'-Lih-'&i-^A^ 


Conway  Castle 

Clark,  Mediaeval  Military  Architecture  in  England 


the  oath  taken  to  Edward  the  Elder  (p.  49),  the  English  kings 
had  always  asserted  a  claim  to  overlordship,  but  the  Scots  had 
as  steadily  denied  it.  The  oath  of  homage  did  not,  as  they 
understood  it,  involve  feudal  dependence.  The  question 
had  been  waived  for  many  years,  and  frequent  intermarriage 
between  the  royal  houses  had  helped  maintain  friendly  rela- 
tions between  the  two  kingdoms. 

In  1286  the  king  of  Scots,  Alexander  III,  died,  leaving   Bright,  I, 
as  his  only  heir  Margaret  of  Norway,  a  sickly  child  of  three   ^80-186. 
years.     She  was  at  once  proclaimed  queen,  and  a  regency 
governed  Scotland  in  her  name.     Edward  hoped  to  secure 
the  welfare   of  both  kingdoms  by  uniting  the  two  dynas- 


BORMAY  &  CO.,EM3fl'8,N.Y. 


Reneival  of  War  139 

ties,  and  succeeded  (1290)  in  negotiating  tlie  betrothal  of 
the  little  queen  of  Scots  to  Edward,  his  son  and  heir.  By 
the  terms  of  the  marriage  treaty  Scotland  was  to  remain 
"  separate  and  divided  and  free  in  itself,  without  subjection 
to  the  realm  of  England." 

Before  the  year  was  out,  Edward's  plans  were  unhappily 
set  at  naught  by  the  death  of  the  Maid  of  Norway.  Mar- 
garet was  the  last  of  the  direct  royal  line  of  Scotland,  and  at 
once  a  number  of  claimants  to  the  crown  appeared.  Per- 
plexed, the  regents  turned  to  Edward  for  advice,  but  he 
refused  to  interfere  unless  his  overlordship  was  recognized. 
To  this  the  barons  finally  agreed,  although  the  commons  are 
recorded  to  have  made  some  objection.  His  claims  once 
accepted,  Edward  acted  with  fairness  and  wisdom,  giving 
his  decision  finally  in  favor  of  John  Balliol,  grandson  of  John  BallioL 
the  eldest  daughter  of  David,  brother  of  William  the  Lion 
( 1 165-12 14).  The  award  of  Norham  was  accepted  by  the 
Scots,  and  in  1292  Balliol  was  crowned  king  at  Scone,  and 
paid  homage  to  Edward  as  his  feudal  lord. 

Renewal  of  War.  —  In  1292  Edward's  power  was  at  its 
height.  His  supremacy  was  acknowledged  throughout  the 
island,  he  had  the  good-will  of  his  subjects,  England  was  at 
peace  at  home  and  abroad.  Nowhere  was  there  a  sign  that 
the  crisis  of  the  reign  was  impending,  and  yet  in  a  few  years 
England  had  turned  against  him,  Wales  and  Scotland  had 
risen  in  revolt,  and  Gascony,  almost  the  last  of  the  continental 
possessions  of  Henry  H,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
king  of  France. 

Quarrels  between  French  and  Gascon  sailors  (1293)  were 
the  beginning  of  trouble.  Philip  of  France,  ever  on  the 
alert  to  press  an  advantage,  used  the  affair  to  assert  his  feu- 
dal rights  as  overlord  and,  on  Edward's  refusal  to  appear 
before  him,  invaded  Gascony.  Edward  would  have  had 
little  difficulty  in  resisting  Philip  had  not  disaffection  in 
Wales  and  Scotland,  fanned  by  the  French  king's  intrigues, 
tied  his  hands. 

All  Wales  rose  (1294)  in  a  despairing  effort  to  throw  off 


I40 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


Green, 

pp.  189,  190. 


Alliance  of 
France  and 
Scotland. 


Green, 

pp.  173-181. 

Stubbs, 

Early 

PUmtas^enets, 

pp.  221-227. 


the  hated  English  rule,  and  during  the  winter  months  Ed- 
ward's resources  were  strained  in  the  reconquest  of  the 
country.  With  the  spring  the  rising  was  crushed,  and  Ed- 
ward turned  to  meet  the  greater  dangers  that  threatened 
him  in  the  north.  The  peace  that  had  followed  Balliol's 
coronation  was  not  of  long  duration.  With  generous  in- 
terpretation of  his  feudal  rights,  Edward  had  encouraged 
appeals  from  the  local  courts  of  Scotland  to  his  own  tribunal 
at  Westminster.  Balliol  resented  this,  and  was  upheld  in 
his  refusal  to  appear  before  Edward  to  answer  the  charges 
against  him  by  the  growing  national  feeling  of  his  subjects. 
This  resistance  was  made  more  formidable  by  the  alliance 
concluded  between  France  and  Scotland  in  1295.^ 

Conquest  of  Scotland.  —  For  the  moment,  the  Scottish 
uprising  seemed  to  further  Edward's  plan  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  Britain.  In  the  spring  of  1296  he  led  an  army  over 
the  Border.  The  commercial  town  of  Berwick  surrendered 
after  a  three  days'  siege,  and  a  few  weeks  later  the  victory 
of  Dunbar  put  an  end  to  the  resistance  of  the  Scots.  Before 
the  summer  was  over  Balliol  was  a  prisoner,  and  at  a  Parlia- 
ment held  at  Berwick  the  Scottish  magnates  took  the  oath 
of  fealty  to  Edward  as  their  king.  The  conquest  of  Scot- 
land seemed  complete.  Edward  showed  true  statesmanship 
in  his  treatment  of  the  conquered.  English  officials  were 
placed  over  the  country,  but  the  people  were  left  undis- 
turbed in  their  lands  and  their  laws. 

Model  Parliament.  —  Edward  was  now  ready  to  turn  his 
attention  to  France,  but  a  new  danger  confronted  him  in  the 
rebellious  attitude  of  his  English  subjects.  Throughout  his 
reign  Edward  had  shown  that  the  lessons  of  his  father's 
reign  were  not  lost  upon  him.  He  loved  power,  but  he  real- 
ized the  necessity  of  securing  the  cooperation  of  his  subjects 
in  the  government  of  the  country,  and  he  had  repeatedly 
called  together  Parliaments  more  or  less  representative  of 
the  whole  people  to  advise  with  him  in  national  concerns. 

1  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  connection  between  the  two  countries 
which  was  to  last  for  three  centuries. 


Constitutional  Questions 


141 


When  in  1295  the  king  found  himself  attacked  on  all 
sides,  he  turned  to  the  nation  for  support,  and  called  to- 
gether at  Westminster  men  of  every  class,  recognizing  their 


7W    W>^\*»*wV)BW'V^«*^''^W*~  ' 

Parliament  of  Edward  I 

From  an  old  print 


right  to  act  in  words  taken  from  the  Roman  law,  "What 
touches  all  must  be  agreed  to  by  all."     Bishops  and  barons. 


t42 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


Source-Book, 
pp.  89-91. 


Stubbs, 
Early 

Platitagenets, 
pp.  234-238. 


summoned  by  personal  writ,  met  with  representatives  of  the 
people,  knights  of  the  shire,  and  burgesses  of  the  boroughs, 
summoned  by  general  writ  through  the  sheriffs ;  the  lower 
clergy  also  were  represented. 

The  meeting  of  the  Parliament  of  1295,  the  Model  Par- 
liament as  it  is  sometimes  called,  marks  a  turning-point  in 
English  constitutional  history.  From  that  day  to  this  the 
form  of  England's  national  council  has  remained  essentially 
unchanged,  its  place  in  the  government  has  been  scarcely 
questioned. 

Edward  and  the  Clergy.  —  Edward's  confidence  in  his 
subjects  was  not  misplaced,  since  the  Parliament  of  1295 
voted  him  large  grants  of  money;  but  the  next  two  years 
were  full  of  difficulties  which  tested  to  the  utmost  the 
constancy  of  the  king  and  the  forbearance  of  the  people. 
Throughout  the  reign  the  burden  of  taxation  had  been 
great,  due  in  part  to  debts  handed  on  from  Henry's  time 
and  in  part  to  the  costly  nature  of  Edward's  enterprises. 
The  demands  upon  the  national  resources  were  steadily 
increasing.  In  1296  the  lower  clergy,  led  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  and  relying  upon  papal  support, 
refused  an  aid  demanded  by  the  king.  In  retaliation 
Edward  issued  a  decree  of  outlawry  against  them,  and 
soon  brought  them  to  terms.  Rut  disaffection  was  spread- 
ing. Pressed  for  money,  Edward  had  aroused  the  hostility 
of  the  merchants  by  seizing  their  stores  of  wool  and  leather. 
Many  of  his  measures  of  reform  were  resented  by  the  nobles, 
and  when  in  1297  he  summoned"  them  to  lead  an  expedition 
into  France,  he  was  met  by  refusal. 

Confirmation  of  the  Charters.  —  Edward  found  he  had 
gone  too  far ;  townsfolk  and  barons,  clergy  and  laity,  united 
in  demanding  that  he  should  renew  the  Great  Charter  with 
additional  clauses,  limiting  still  more  the  royal  power  of 
taxation.  Leaving  his  son  and  ministers  to  act  for  him, 
Edward  withdrew  to  Flanders,  and  in  October,  1297,  the 
Confirmatio  Cartarum  was  issued  in  his  name.  By  this  act 
the  king  bound  himself  never  again  to  take  "  aids,  tasks,  and 


War  zvitJi  Scotland 


143 


prizes,  but  by  the  common  assent  of  the  realm."  The  Con- 
firmation of  the  Charters  stands  as  a  landmark  in  English 
constitutional  history,  for  from  it  dates  the  nation's  first  real 
control  over  the  revenue ;  in  Edward's  concessions  was 
summed  up  all  that  had  been  gained  since  the  time  of 
John. 

"War  with  Scotland.  —  The  remaining  years  of  Edward's   Green, 
reign  were  occupied  by  the  struggle  with   Scotland.     The   PP-  ^91-103. 

211    212 

turbulent  nobles  resented  Edward's  orderly  government,  and 

the   people,  exasperated   by  the   tyranny  of  his  ministers,   Bright,  I, 

ioined  hands  with  them  in  an  effort  to  make  Scotland  free.    189-192. 


"  Ti^S'^^^^^'^ 


Ww^'''A-tJ'^^ 


;i ' 


BoTHWELL  Castle,  Lanarkshire 

From  an  old  print 

Common  hatred  of  foreign  rule  was  creating  a  Scottish 
nation.  Under  the  leadership  of  William  Wallace,  an  out-  William 
lawed  knight,  the  general  disaffection  found  expression  in  Wallace, 
open  revolt  (1297).  For  a  time  the  Scots  were  successful, 
driving  out  the  English,  and  even  crossing  the  border  to 
ravage  the  northern  counties,  Westmoreland  and  Northum- 
berland. Early  in  1298  Edward,  having  settled  his  difficul- 
ties with  France,  led  a  large  force  of  English  and  Welsh 
against  the  Scots.     On  the  2 2d  of  July  the  two  armies  met 


144 


Struggle  for  the  CJiarter 


Falkirk, 
1298. 


Robert 
Bruce. 


Traill,  I, 
440-450. 


at  Falkirk.  Wallace's  reliance  was  his  pikemen  ^  thrown 
into  four  great  squares.  The  English  horse  charged  in  vain, 
and  it  was  only  when  Edward,  following  the  tactics  learned 
in  the  Welsh  wars,  brought  up  his  bowmen,  that  he  suc- 
ceeded in  breaking  the  Scottish  lines,  and  in  winning  a  brill- 
iant victory.  But  the  Scots  though  beaten  were  unsubdued, 
and  year  after  year  the  war  was  renewed.  In  1304,  think- 
ing the  conquest  achieved,  Edward  summoned  a  Parliament 
to  which  representatives  of  the  Scots  were  called  to  draw  up 
a  plan  of  government  for  the  dependent  kingdom.  The 
ordinance  adopted  was  wise  and  conciliatory,  but  the  time 
was  not  ripe  for  such  a  measure.  Two  years  later  Scotland 
rose  in  revolt,  and  rejecting  the  English  rule  chose  as  king 
Robert  Bruce,  grandson  of  one  of  the  claimants  of  1290. 
The  whole  work  of  conquest  was  to  be  done  over  again.  In 
the  spring  of  1307,  as  Edward  was  leading  an  army  north- 
wards, he  died  near  Carlisle,  leaving  the  Scots  still  defiant. 

England  in  the  Thirteenth  Century.  —  Edward  I  was 
the  worthy  son  of  a  great  age.  The  thirteenth  century 
is  one  of  the  creative  periods  in  the  world's  history,  re- 
markable for  its  achievements  in  literature  and  art  and  poli- 
tics. In  England  it  was  a  period  of  unparalleled  national 
and  constitutional  growth.  The  Great  Charter,  the  struggle 
waged  by  Simon  de  Montfort  and  his  party,  the  Model  Par- 
liament, the  Confirmation  of  the  Charters  are  milestones 
marking  England's  progress  toward  constitutional  liberty. 

Language  and  Literature.  —  The  development  of  patriot- 
ism had  not  yet  brought  about  the  restoration  of  English 
as  the  national  language.  True,  the  year  that  saw  the  loss 
of  the  French  provinces  saw  also  the  appearance  of  Laya- 
mon's  Brut,  the  first  English  work  since  the  Saxon  Chron- 
icles came  to  an  end,  and  the  Provisions  of  Oxford  were 
published  in  the  vernacular  as  well  as  in  Latin,  but  the  pop- 
ular tongue  was  not  yet  the  speech  of  the  court.^     Latin  was 


1  Foot-soldiers  armed  with  spears  or  pikes. 

2  There  is  no  evidence  that  even  Edward  I  understood  a  word  of  Eng- 
lish. 


ArcJiitecture 


145 


still  the  language  of  literature,  while   French  was  gaining 
ground  in  official  and  legal  use. 

Architecture.  —  It  was  in  architecture,  and  not  in  litera- 
ture, that  the  spirit  of  the  time  found  its  truest  expression. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century  Norman  architec- 
tural forms  were  giving  way  before  a  style  more  truly  national. 
The  restoration  of  Canterbury  after  the  fire  of  1 1 74  marks 


the     transi- 
the    pointed 
early     Eng- 
tecture,  was 
brilliancy  of 
stone  vault- 
Salisbury, 
the  reign  of 
ing    exam- 
thirteenth 


-^  "iiirm^  J 


Traill,  I, 
415-427- 


tion  from  the  round  Norman  arch  to 

Gothic.     Under  John  and  Henry,  the 

lish,  the  first  purely  indigenous  archi- 

in  its  glory.     Lightness,  delicacy,  the 

stained  glass,  the  soaring  vastness  of 

ing,    characterized    the    new    order. 

Westminster,  and  Wells,  all  built  in 

Henry  HI,  are  splendid  and  endur- 

ples  of  the  grand  conceptions  of  the 

century. 


Salisbury  Cathedral.    Built  1220-1258 

The  spire  is  of  fourteenth-century  date 


146 


Struggle  for  the  Charter 


Important  Events 

Reign  of  John,  1199-1216. 

Loss  of  Normandy,  Maine,  Anjou,  Touraine,  1204. 
England  surrendered  in  fief  to  the  Pope,  1213. 
Signing  of  tlie  Great  Charter,  1215. 

Reign  of  Henry  III,  1216-1272. 

Wise  government  of  Hubert  de  Burgh,  12 19-1232 

Misgovernment  of  the  king,  1232-1258. 

The  Mad  Parliament,  1258. 

Mise  of  Amiens  ;  battle  of  Lewes,  1264. 

Parliament  of  1265. 

Battle  of  Evesham  ;  death  of  de  Monttort,  1265. 

Reign  of  Edward  I,  1 272-1 307. 

Welsh  revolt  suppressed,  1 282-1 284. 
Expulsion  of  the  Jews,  1290. 
The  Model  Parliament,  1295. 
Confirmation  of  the  Charters,  1297. 
The  Scottish  wars,  1295-1307. 


Seal  of  Edward  I 


Chief  Contemporaries  147 


CO    t^ 


§ 

H  S 

s  o 

U  C4 


w 


w         5  ^    o  -a 


tti      a. 


o 


3   ^  -> 


-c  o  >,  S 

Pi  1^  J2  g 

•5  w 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    RISE   OF  THE    COMMONS 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 

Documents  illustrating  the  Peasants'  Rising  and  the  Lollards,  edited 

by  Powell  and  Trevelyan. 
Langland,  Piers  Plowman,  edited  by  Warren. 
Froissart's  Chronicles,  edited  by  Berner. 
The  Boy^s  Froissart,  edited  by  Lanier. 
Political  Poems  and  Songs  from  Edward  III  to    Richard  III,   edited 

by  Wright. 

Special  Authorities 

Tout,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  HI,  ch.  XH-XIX. 

Edwards,  England  from  1 2^2-1  ^Sb. 

Oman,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  IV,  ch.  I-VI. 

Stubbs,  E.arly  Plantageneis. 

Longman,  Life  and  Times  of  Edzuard  HI. 

Trevelyan,  England  in  the  Age  of  Wycliffe. 

Serjeant,  yc/^;/  IVyclif. 

Powell,  Peasant  Rising  in  East  Anglia. 

Gasquet,  The  Great  Pestilence. 

Oman,  The  Great  Revolt  of  ijSi. 

Burton,  History  of  Scotland. 

Imacinative  Literature 

Chaucer,  Canterbury  Tales. 
Marlowe,  Edward  II. 
Shakespeare,  Richard  II. 
Converse,  F.,  Long  Will. 
Rossetti,  77/1?  King''s  Tragedy. 
Morris,  The  Dream  of  John  Ball. 

Characteristic  Features  of  the  Epoch.  —  The  fourteenth 
century  witnessed  a  rnomentous  change  in  the  relation  of 
classes  in  England.  As  we  follow  the  history  of  its  wars  and 
civil  dissensions,  it  seems  a  degenerate  age,  a  period  of  waste 
and  decay,  and  certainly  the  court  and  the  baronage  lost  much 

148 


The  Rig  Jit  of  Taxation  149 

in  energy  and  prestige.  If,  however,  we  study  the  move- 
ments that  agitated  the  lower  ranks  of  society,  we  find  symp- 
toms of  growing  power.  The  serf,  the  artisan,  the  small 
freeholder,  the  merchant,  men  of  the  industrial  as  distin- 
guished from  the  military  classes,  experienced  an  increase  in 
prosperity  that  gave  them  courage  to  strive  for  better  things. 
The  aspirations  of  the  people  found  expression  in  diverse 
ways.  Thought  was  quickened  and  ennobled,  men  sought 
to  perpetuate  ideas  in  books,  and  a  national  literature  was 
born.  The  religious  instinct  was  deepened,  and  a  purer 
faith  rejected  the  authority  of  a  degenerate  Church.  The 
old  restraints  grew  irksome,  and  men  strove  to  free  them- 
selves from  the  burdens  imposed  by  lord  and  king,  to  secure 
social  advancement  and  political  influence.  So  it  came  about 
that  in  the  last  years  of  the  century  the  people  had  grown 
strong  enough  to  play  their  part  in  the  long  struggle  against 
the  arbitrary  power  of  the  king. 

The  Right  of  Taxation.  —  Progress  toward  constitutional 
government  was  a  direct  consequence  of  the  financial  neces- 
sities of  the  crown.  During  the  period  under  consideration, 
military  expenses  constituted  the  most  serious  item  in  the 
royal  debit  account.  The  determination  to  regain  control 
of  Scotland  suggested  perennial  raids  across  the  I'.order, 
while  the  claim  to  the  crown  of  France  preferred  by  Edward 
III  involved  England  in  twenty-five  years  of  war.  The 
burden  of  taxation  became  well-nigh  unendurable. 

The  cost  of  martial  expeditions  was  defrayed  by  grants 
voted  in  Parliament  with  little  grumbling,  for  the  people 
were  ready  to  pay  taxes  where  the  glory  of  the  EngHsh  name 
was  at  stake ;  but  the  expenses  of  the  royal  household  were 
not  so  cheerfully  met.  Men  argued  that  the  king  should 
"  live  of  his  own,"  that  his  court  should  be  maintained  out 
of  the  revenue  from  the  royal  demesne.  Now  the  crown 
estates  had  been  considerably  reduced  by  sale  and  gift  since 
the  Conqueror's  day,  so  that  the  private  revenue  of  the  sov- 
ereign had  fallen  off  at  the  same  time  that  the  life  of  the 
court  had  waxed  more  luxurious.     The  ordinary  income  of 


4 West 3       Lon^tude        2 from  I        Greenwich       0 East 1 


BORMAV  &  C0.,ENfiR*8,H.Y^ 


The  Right  of  Taxation  151 

the  king,  that  from  the  royal  estates  and  from  legitimate 
aids  and  customs,  was  probably  at  this  time  about  ^65,000.^ 
Of  this  sum,  from  _;^io,ooo  to  ^15,000  was  spent  upon  the 
royal  household,  the  rest  being  devoted  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  king's  castles,  the  army,  the  navy,  and  the  civil  service. 
;,^i5,ooo  was  perhaps  not  an  extravagant  sum  to  allow  for 
keeping  up  an  establishment  that  must  compare  favorably 
with  the  courts  of  continental  monarchs,  but  the  people 
fretted  under  the  burden,  and  a  number  of  clumsy  efforts 
were  made  to  control  the  royal  expenditure. 

The  Charter  confirmed  in  1297  bound  the  king  to  levy 
no  extraordinary  taxes  "  without  the  common  consent  of 
the  realm  and  to  the  common  profit  thereof."  Edward  I 
loyally  observed  the  limitations  so  imposed,  but  his  suc- 
cessors were  less  scrupulous.  The  king's  lawyers  were  not 
slow  to  find  means  of  evading  the  Charter,  and  the  parlia- 
mentary records  of  the  period  abound  in  protests  against 
illegal  taxation.  Exorbitant  sums  were  exacted  from  the 
royal  demesnes,  where  the  people,  being  immediate  depend- 
ents of  the  crown,  could  make  no  effective  resistance ;  new  Traill,  II, 
customs  duties  were  imposed  by  special  arrangement  with  ^^8. 
the  merchants,  export  duties  on  wool  and  import  duties  on 
wine  and  other  luxuries ;  but  the  favorite  device  of  a  needy 
monarch  was  to  borrow  the  money  he  could  not  raise  by 
taxation.  There  was  no  lack  of  opportunity.  The  Jewish 
money-lenders,  the  never  failing  resource  of  preceding 
kings,  had  been  banished  from  England  ;  but  there  were 
Italian  bankers  and  Flemish  merchants  who  might  always 
be  relied  on  to  accommodate  a  royal  spendthrift,  and  the 
Pope  himself  was  not  averse  to  loaning  money  on  good 
security.  These  debts  were  of  course  a  charge  on  future 
revenue  and  must  eventually  be  made  good  by  taxation. 
Money  was  not  unfrequently  extorted  from  wealthy  English 
prelates  and  the  prosperous  towns  of  the  realm,  on  the  Traill,  II, 
pretence  of  repayment,  but  subjects  gave  with  a  bad  grace,   148-150- 

1  Money  values  must  be  multiplied  by  lo  to  estimate  the  equivalent  in 
money  of  to-day^ 


152  The  Rise  of  the  Commons 

since  the  royal  creditor  had  a  poor  memory  for  such 
obhgations  and  could  not  safely  be  pressed.  The  most 
vexatious  resource,  and  that  which  roused  deepest  animosity 
among  the  people,  was  the  so-called  right  of  purveyance. 
On  the  magnificent  royal  progresses  through  the  realm,  the 
king's  officers  provided  for  the  needs  of  his  household  at 
the  expense  of  the  inhabitants.  Food  and  shelter  were 
demanded  at  the  lowest  prices  and  with  no  security  for 
payment.  I'he  carts  and  horses,  even  the  personal  ser- 
vices of  the  peasants,  were  called  into  requisition,  not 
merely  for  the  king's  use,  but  at  the  convenience  of  any 
one  of  the  royal  officers  who  dared  ask  them  in  the  king's 
name.  This  abuse  of  power  was  frequently  protested,  and 
reform  was  no  less  frequently  promised,  but  since  it  was  an 
ancient  privilege  and  dear  to  the  heart  of  royalty,  it  was 
not  readily  relinquished.  No  practice  was  better  calculated 
to  bring  home  to  the  understanding  of  the  common  people 
the  inconveniences  of  tyranny. 
Green,  Edward  II   (1307-1327).  —  These  questionable  preroga- 

pp.  207-209.  |.{ygg  Qf  ^YiQ  crown  were  enlarged  to  dangerous  proportions 
by  Edward  II.  The  foolish  and  incompetent  son  of  the 
great  Edward  was  not  so  much  despotic  as  self-willed  and 
indulgent.  He  looked  upon  his  realm  as  a  fair  pasture 
wherein  he  and  his  friends  might  batten  at  their  will.  The 
prime  favorite  was  Piers  Gaveston,  a  needy  French  courtier, 
brilliant  and  lovable  even  at  this  distance  of  time  and 
space,  a  loyal  friend  but  a  dangerous  adviser.  For  this 
petted  gallant,  great  estates  were  carved  from  the  royal 
demesne.  He  was  made  Earl  of  Cornwall,  and  when  the 
king  went  over-sea  to  bring  home  his  French  bride,  Gav- 
eston was  appointed  regent  of  the  realm.  The  gay  Gascon 
showed  little  discretion.  He  boldly  enriched  his  relatives 
at  the  expense  of  the  royal  treasury  and  flung  gibes  at  the 
great  English  lords,  reckless  of  their  sullen  wrath. 

His  insolence  soon  involved  himself  and  his  master  in 
difficulties.  In  1310a  convention  of  the  barons,  under  the 
lead  of  Thomas  of  Lancaster,  the  king's  cousin,  presented  a 


Tlie  Loss  of  Scotland 


153 


solemn  protest.  They  complained  that  the  people  were 
burdened  by  heavy  and  illegal  taxes,  while  the  kingdom 
lay  undefended,  the  money  that  should  have  been  devoted 
to  the  Scotch  war  being  wasted  on  unworthy  favorites.  The 
king  attempted  no  resistance,  but  allowed  the  government 
to  be  placed  in  commission  for  a  year.  Twenty-one  Lords 
Ordainers  were  appointed  to  act  for  the  king,  and  a  series 
of  ordinances  was  drawn  up  which  Edward  was  forced  to 
confirm.  Gaveston  was  banished  from  the  realm,  together 
with  the  Italian  bankers  who  had  connived  at  the  royal 
extravagance.  The  king  was  forbidden  to  alienate  the  royal 
demesne  and  was  told  that  he  must  hereafter  "  live  of  his 
own."  No  unusual  taxes  might  be  levied,  nor  could  the 
king  raise  an  army,  go  to  war,  or  quit  the  realm  without  con- 
sent of  the  barons.  Parliament  was  to  be  convened  at  least 
once  a  year  to  consider  such  requests  from  the  king.  This 
was  as  signal  a  triumph  as  that  won  over  Henry  III  in  1258. 
The  Loss  of  Scotland.  —  The  Ordinances  gave  the  barons 
control  of  the  government,  but  the  division  of  responsibility 
proved  disastrous.  When  in  13 14  news  came  that  Stirling, 
the  last  stronghold  of  the  English  in  Scotland,  was  about 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Bruce,  and  the  king,  moved  to  a 
great  effort,  led  an  army  to  its  rescue,  the  barons  refused  to 
follow  on  the  ground  that  the  Lords  Ordainers  had  not 
consented  to  the  war.  The  Scotch  were  not  so  divided. 
Noble  and  peasant  fought  side  by  side  for  a  common  cause, 
and  in  the  battle  of  Bannockburn  (13 14)  they  won  an 
overwhelming  victory.  The  union  of  the  two  kingdoms, 
projected  by  Edward  I,  was  brought  to  naught.  Even  the 
oath  of  homage  formerly  rendered  by  the  king  of  Scots  to 
the  king  of  England  was  henceforth  withheld.  The  dis- 
content of  the  English  found  vent  in  frequent  raids  across 
the  Border,  which  were  promptly  retaliated  in  kind,  and 
the  whole  north  country  was  wasted  by  war  for  a  century 
to  come  ;  but  the  lost  kingdom  was  not  reconquered.  In 
the  bitter  struggle  against  their  would-be  masters,  the  Scots 
sought  aid  in  France.     The  alliance  enhanced  the  dangers 


Green, 

pp.  226,  227, 

Lords 
Ordainers. 


Green, 

pp.  211-216. 


Source-Book^ 
PP-  92,  93- 


Bannock- 
bum,  1314 


SCOTLAKD 

AND  THE    ENGLISH    BORDER 


BORMAy  It  C0,j^Qa'8»N.Y« 


Civil  War  155 

of  the  situation,  since  the  French  were  now  added  to  the 
ring  of  hostile  Celts  that  encompassed  the  English  domain. 

Civil  War.  —  Meantime  the  quarrel  between  Edward  and  Green, 
the  barons  approached  a  crisis.  The  king  refused  to  banish  ^^'  ^^°'  ^^^" 
Gaveston,  and  the  favorite  was  seized  and  put  to  death  by 
the  irate  barons  (131 2).  Edward  was  for  the  moment 
unable  to  retaliate,  but  when  his  new  favorites,  the  De- 
spensers,  were  attacked,  he  took  up  arms  against  his  foes, 
got  possession  of  Lancaster,  and  condemned  him  to  be 
beheaded  as  a  rebel  against  the  royal  authority.  His  exe- 
cution gave  rise  to  a  blood  feud  in  which  Edward's  parti- 
sans were  likely  to  be  outnumbered.  The  Despensers  had 
the  good  sense  to  see  that  the  king's  best  course  was  an 
appeal  to  the  loyalty  of  the  people.  A  Parliament  was 
therefore  convened  in  1322,  the  Ordinances  were  repealed, 
and  it  was  decreed  that  all  matters  concerning  the  king  and 
the  realm  must  be  enacted  in  full  Parliament  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  "  prelates,  earls  and  barons,  and  the  commonalty 
of  the  realm,"  Thus  the  powers  arbitrarily  assumed  by 
the  barons  were  restored  to  the  national  assembly. 

This  principle,  if  accepted  in  its  full  import  by  the  king, 
would  have  guaranteed  him  against  further  revolt,  but 
Edward's  foolish  fondness  for  his  favorites  had  raised  up 
foes  in  his  own  household.  His  queen,  Isabel,  resolving 
to  avenge  the  slights  put  upon  her,  fled  with  her  paramour, 
Roger  Mortimer,  to  France.  Prince  Edward  joined  her 
there,  and  the  three  concerted  rebellion.  Landing  on  the 
south  coast  (1326),  they  were  joined  by  the  leading  barons. 
London  declared  for  the  prince,  the  Despensers  were 
hanged,  and  a  Parliament  was  convened  at  Westminster, 
where  the  helpless  king  was  forced  to  abdicate,  and  young 
Edward  was  proclaimed  king  in  his  stead.  The  principal 
actors  in  this  poor  tragedy  were,  it  is  true,  inspired  by  self- 
ish and  unworthy  motives,  and  hardly  deserved  the  success 
they  achieved ;  but  they  wrought  better  than  they  knew. 
In  appealing  to  Parliament  to  displace  an  unworthy  king, 
the  victors   revived   the   ancient  right  of  the   nation  and 


156  The  Rise  of  the  Commons 

acknowledged  in  the  national  assembly  an  authority  supe- 
rior to  that  of  the  sovereign. 

Edward  III  (1327-1377J.  —  Coming  to  the  throne  under 
such  conditions,  Edward  III  could  not  consistently  dispute 
the  authority  of  Parliament.  Indeed,  he  was  not  the  man  to 
enter  into  a  constitutional  contest.  The  third  Edward  was 
by  instinct  a  general,  not  a  statesman,  and  his  energies  were 
absorbed  in  the  long  war  with  France.  So  long  as  Parlia- 
ment sanctioned  his  military  enterprises  and  voted  supplies 
for  his  army,  he  was  ready  to  make  any  concessions  required 
of  him. 

The  French   Crown.  —  Of  the   continental   dominions    of 
Henry  II,  Aquitaine  only  remained,  and  this  fair  province 
was  wavering  in  her  allegiance  and  inclined  to  admit  the 
Green,  suzerainty  of  the  French  king.     Edward  III  was  ambitious 

pp.  223-231.  ^Q  restore  the  military  prestige  of  his  race,  and  entered 
thoughtlessly  into  the  project  of  conquest  which  ultimately 
cost  England  dear.  Grounds  of  quarrel  were  not  lacking. 
The  aggressions  of  Philip  VI  in  Guienne,  his  alliance  with 
the  Scots,  his  demand  that  Edward  should  make  good  the 
damage  done  to  French  merchants  by  English  sailors  in  the 
Channel,  —  all  these  were  serious  grievances,  but  they  did 
not  justify  Edward's  pretensions  to  the  French  crown.  His 
claim  ^  was  based  on  the  fact  that  he  was,  through  his 
mother,  Isabel,  the  only  surviving  grandchild  of  Philip  the 
Fair,  while  Philip  VI  was  but  the  son  of  a  younger  branch. 
The  French  courts  repudiated  the  claim,  citing  the  Salic  law 
to  prove  that  the  succession  could  not  be  claimed  through  a 
woman,  but  this  was  a  mere  lawyer's  quibble.     The  essential 

1  Claim  of  Edward  III  to  the  throne  of  France :  — 
Philip  III,  the  Bold,  1270-1285 


Traill,  11,42. 


Philip  IV,  the  Fair,  1285-1314  Charles  of  Valois 

I  I 


I  \  \  I  Philip  VI,  1328-1350 

Louis  X,  Philip  V.         Charles  IV,     Isabel,  m.  Edward  II  1 

1314-1316        1316-1322  1322-1328  I  John,  the  Good,  1350-1364 

Edward  III  I 

Charles  V,  the  Wise 


TJic  Invasion  of  France  157 

right  of  Philip,  and  that  which  Joan  of  Arc  urged  for  his 
successor  one  hundred  years  later,  was  that  the  French 
people  should  be  ruled  by  a  French  king. 

Of  the  two  rnonarchs,  Edward  was  far  better  equipped 
for  war.  The  export  of  wool  to  Flanders  brought  a  steady 
revenue  to  the  merchants  in  return  cargoes,  to  the  royal 
treasury  in  the  form  of  export  duties.  The  English  army 
was  made  up  in  good  part  of  levies  of  yeoman  archers,  who, 
being  liberally  paid  for  their  service  on  foreign  soil,  insured 
to  the  king  a  stanch  and  loyal  force.  Philip  could  bring 
against  these  trained  foot-soldiers  only  an  unruly  feudal 
array.  The  bulk  of  his  troops  were  mounted  knights,  the 
liveried  retainers  of  the  great  vassals.  Discipline,  general- 
ship, were  impossible.  There  was  in  France  no  system  of 
national  taxation  such  as  the  English  Parliament  afforded. 
The  moneys  wrung  from  the  common  people  were  spent  by 
the  court  and  nobility  in  wasteful  display.  Edward  feared 
invasion  from  Scotland  ;  Philip  had  to  cope  with  no  less 
a  danger  in  the  hostility  of  the  Flemish  cities.  He  had 
foolishly  incurred  the  wrath  of  the  burghers  by  laying  an 
embargo  on  English  wool,  and  they  were  ready  to  furnish 
harborage  and  supplies  to  the  fleet  of  his  rival.  Edward 
could  count  also  on  aid  from  Hainault,  the  home  of  his 
queen,  Philippa. 

The  Invasion  of  France.  —  The  first  encounter  took  place 
off  the  Flemish  coast.  In  the  battle  of  Sluys  (1340)  the 
French  fleet  was  destroyed,  and  the  Channel  was  rendered 
safe  for  the  English  transports.  P'our  years  later,  Edward 
ordered  a  general  attack.  One  army  was  sent  to  Guienne, 
another  to  Brittany,  while  a  third,  under  the  immediate 
command  of  the  king,  landed  at  Barfleur.  The  chief  Nor- 
man cities,  Cherbourg,  Caen,  and  Rouen,  fell  easy  prey,  and 
the  English  army  advanced  unopposed  on  Paris.  But  Ed- 
ward dared  not  risk  a  decisive  battle  so  far  from  his  base  of 
supplies.  He  crossed  the  Seine  and  retreated  northward, 
closely  followed  by  the  French.  Overtaken  at  Crecy,  he 
chose  a  favorable  position  and  turned  on  his  triumphant 


k  CO.,ENQR'B,N.Y« 


The  English   TriumpJi 


159 


pursuers.  The  battle  proved  the  weakness  of  a  feudal  force 
brought  face  to  face  with  disciplined  troops.  The  stout  English 
archers  valiantly  stood  their  ground,  while  the  French  knights  Crecy,  1346. 
pushed  to  the  front  in  defiance  of  orders,  ruthlessly  treading 
down  the  Genoese  mercenaries 
in  their  path.  The  whole  array 
was  thrown  into  hopeless  con- 
fusion and  the  rout  was  com- 
plete. Philip  and  the  surviving 
nobles  fled  to  Paris,  and  Edward 
was  left  free  to  invest  Calais, 
a  prosperous  French  port 
much  coveted  by  English  mer- 
chants. After  an  obstinate  siege 
of  twelve  months'  duration  the 
town  was  forced  to  capitulate. 
The  citizens  were  required  to 
swear  allegiance  or  leave  the 
place,  and  Calais  was  peopled 
with  English.  It  became  a  mart 
for  the  wool,  lead,  and  tin  ex- 
ported from  Britain. 

The  eight    years'   truce    that 
followed  the  fall  of  Calais  was 

necessitated  by  the  exhaustion  of  both  parties  to  the  war. 
Parliament  refused  to  grant  taxes  and  there  was  difficulty 
in  filling  up  the  depleted  ranks  of  the  army.  The  Black 
Death,  a  mysterious  pestilence  originating  in  the  Orient, 
reached  France  in  1347  and  England  the  following  year. 
The  dread  disease  slew  thousands  in  a  day  and  depopulated 
towns.  The  fighting  force  of  both  kingdoms  was  reduced 
by  half. 

The  English  Triumph.  —  The  war  was  renewed  by  the 
sons  of  the  original  contestants.  King  John  had  not  the 
martial  qualities  of  his  father.  Foolish  and  goodnatured, 
he  possessed  neither  the  wisdom  to  avoid  war  nor  the  reso- 
lution  to    prosecute  an   effective  campaign.     Edward,  the 


Fall  of 
Calais. 


Genoese  Crossbowman 


i6o 


TJie  Rise  of  tJie  Commons 


Poitiers, 
1356. 


Black  Prince,  was  a  brilliant  and  daring  warrior,  but  his 
personal  courage  was  offset  by  a  cruelty  and  greed  that 
rendered  him  the  prince  of  plunderers.  In  1355  he  landed 
at  Bordeaux  and  ravaged  the  insurgent  province  of  Guienne. 
Pushing  north  into  Foitou,  he  encountered  King  John's 
army  at  Poitiers.  Discipline  and  generalship  again  gave 
the  victory  to  the  English.  The  heedless  valor  of  the  French 
knights  betrayed  them  to  the  deadly  rain  of  yeoman  arrows. 


Effigy  of  the  Bi.ack  Pkinck 


The  dauphin  with  the  flower  of  the  French  nobility  fled  the 
field.  King  John  was  taken  prisoner  and  sent  across  the 
Channel  to  be  held  for  ransom.  Here,  as  at  Crecy,  the 
wreck  of  the  French  army  was  due  to  the  vanity  and  turbu- 
lence of  the  feudal  lords.  Even  Froissart,  the  chronicler  of 
chivalry,  records  that  "  the  nobles  who  returned  from  the 
battle  were  so  hated  and  abused  by  the  communes  that  they 
scarcely  could  venture  to  set  foot  in  any  of  the  good  towns." 
Brilliant  as  was  this  victory,  it  did  not  secure  the 
kingdom.  The  open  country  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the 
invader,  but  the  fortified  places  held  loyally  by  the  worth- 
less John.  The  Black  Prince  marched  through  Aqui- 
taine,  burning  villages  and  laying  waste  the  cultivated  fields, 
but  such  victories  only  served  to  embitter  the  French 
against  his  rule.  City  after  city  rose  in  revolt,  and  the 
barons  summoned  their  retainers  to  a  crusade  against  the 
foreigners.     Finally  peace  was  concluded   (Bretigny,  1360). 


England  Undone  i6i 

King  Edward  renounced  his  claim  to  the  throne  of  France, 

but  he  was  conceded  the  sovereignty  of  all  the  provinces  south    Peace  of 

of  the    Loire,  together  with   Calais   and    Ponthieu.     King    ^''^tigny. 

John  was  to  be  ransomed  at  a  cost  of  three  million  francs 

in  gold.     England  yielded  her  pretensions  to  the  Flemish 

allegiance,  while  France  agreed  to  abandon  her  Scotch  allies. 

England  Undone. — The  dauphin  who  fled  from  the 
bloody  field  of  Alaupertuis,  was  no  soldier,  but  he  developed 
a  capacity  for  statescraft  that  made  him  more  than  a  match 
for  the  Black  Prince.  Charles  the  Wise  never  faced  his 
brilliant  adversary  in  the  open  field,  but  he  undertook  to 
destroy  the  English  army  by  cutting  off  its  supplies.  To 
this  end  he  garrisoned  the  cities,  but  left  the  country  dis- 
tricts to  the  cruel  mercies  of  the  enemy.  The  "  free 
companies,"  lawless  freebooters  in  the  guise  of  military 
commands,  dreaded  the  justice-loving  king,  and  threw  in 
their  fortunes  with  the  Black  Prince.  Thus  the  English 
won  an  evil  reputation  for  rapine  and  violence,  and  their 
few  adherents  were  alienated.  Prince  Edward  marched  to 
the  very  gates  of  Paris,  pillaging  and  burning,  but  he  won 
no  territory.  The  return  march  was  more  disastrous  than  a 
battle  lost,  for  two-thirds  of  his  army  perished  from  starva- 
tion and  disease.  At  last  the  Black  Prince,  worn  out  by 
the  exertions  of  these  bloody  years,  returned  to  England 
to  die.  The  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  succeeded  him  in 
command,  was  unable  to  make  a  landing  in  Aquitaine. 
Attacked  by  the  French  fleet  off"  La  Rochelle,  he  met  with  LaRochelle, 
crushing  defeat.  He  himself  was  taken  prisoner,  and  his 
vessels,  even  to  the  treasure  ship,  were  captured  and  sunk. 
This  loss  was  fatal  to  the  English  cause.  Ponthieu,  Guienne, 
and  Gascony  declared  for  France  and  drove  out  the  alien 
garrisons.  By  1374  nothing  of  the  conquest  remained  save 
the  seaports  Calais,  Cherbourg,  Brest,  Bordeaux,  and  Bayonne. 

Social  and  Constitutional  Results.  —  The  long  and  costly 
struggle  was  not  merely  fruitless,  it  was  demoralizing. 
Courage  and  knightly  honor  were  fostered,  it  is  true,  by 
these  years  of  desperate  adventure,  but  the  same  conditions 

A! 


l62  TJie  Rise  of  the  Connnons 

bred  brutality  and  lawlessness.  Campaigning  at  an  end,  the 
nobles  returned  to  England  to  spend  \\\  reckless  extrava- 
gance the  wealth  amassed  abroad.  The  common  soldiers 
came  home,  broken  in  health  and  fortune,  to  find  that 
opportunities  to  earn  an  honest  living  were  generally  closed 
to  them.  They  readily  drifted  into  vagabondage  and  crime. 
Disastrous  as  were  the  French  campaigns,  they  served 
one  useful  purpose.  They  furnished  the  opportunity  for 
constitutional  progress.  Great  armies  could  not  be  main- 
tained without  frequent  appeals  for  money,  and  the  Parlia- 
ments of  this  period  were  not  slow  to  utilize  such  occasions 
for  extorting  concessions.  Grants  were  voted  only  in  return 
for  redress  of  grievances,  and  the  king  was  forced  to  sur- 
render, one  after  another,  the  most  cherished  prerogatives 
of  the  crown.  Exclusive  right  of  taxation  was  accorded 
to  Parliament,  together  with  the  power  to  specify  the 
object  to  which  the  supply  should  be  devoted.  The  royal 
accounts  were  examined  by  auditors  appointed  by  Parlia- 
ment, and  the  king's  ministers  were  held  responsible  to 
the  representatives  of  the  people.  These  were  great  and 
important  gains.  They  secured  to  Parliament  in  the  four- 
teenth century  authority  almost  coextensive  with  that  exer- 
cised by  the  House  of  Commons  to-day. 

Organization  of  the  Two  Houses.  —  Forty-eight  Parlia- 
ments were  convened  in  the  fifty  years  of  Edward  Ill's  reign, 
and  the   mass    of  business    considered   rendered    effective 

Paigrave,        organization  necessary.     The   methods   of  procedure   then 

Hou^e  of  determined  upon  are  still  observed,  curious  and  antiquated 
though  many  of  them  seem.  By  1343  the  representatives 
of  the  several  estates  had  established  the  custom  of  meeting 
in  two  distinct  assemblies,  the  House  of  Lords  and  the  House 
of  Commons.  In  the  House  of  Lords,  the  lineal  descendant 
of  the  Great  Council,  sat  some  fifty  barons  and  as  many  great 
ecclesiastics,  who   together  represented  the  interests   of  a 

Green,  Small  fraction  of  the  English  nation,  the  privileged  orders. 

pp.  247,  248.  Knights  and  burgesses  originally  sat  apart  as  representing  sepa- 
rate interests,  but  they  gradually  learned  how  much  might  be 


TJie  Good  Parliament  163 

gained  by  alliance.  The  knight  spoke  for  his  shire  and  the 
burgess  for  his  borough,  but  both  stood  for  the  interests  of  the 
middle  classes  as  opposed  to  those  of  the  barons  and  clergy. 
Their  union  in  the  House  of  Commons  was  an  important 
step  in  the  process  of  constitutional  development.  Jointly 
the  two  estates  gathered  courage  to  undertake  reforms  that 
neither  would  have  ventured  alone. 

Misgovernment  of  the  King's  Ministers.  —  The  reign  of 
Edward  III,  held  to  be  so  brilliant  by  contemporary  annalists, 
drew  to  a  close  in  grief  and  gloom.  Control  of  the  Channel 
was  lost  at  La  Rochelle,  and  French  pirates  threatened  the 
coast  towns.  The  Prince  of  Wales  was  sick  unto  death.  The 
old  king  was  in  his  dotage.  Ruled  by  his  greedy,  unscrupulous 
mistress,  Alice  Ferrers,  he  weakly  yiehkd  to  the  clamors  of 
the  cunning  parasites  who  battened  on  the  royal  treasury. 
Bribery,  peculation,  fraud,  every  form  of  corruption,  was  rife 
at  court.  The  ostentatious  extravagance  of  the  upper  classes 
showed  in  startling  contrast  to  the  misery  of  the  people. 

The  government  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  John  of 
Gaunt,  a  younger  son  of  Edward  III,^  and  the  ablest  of 
his  house.  He  made  but  selfish  use  of  his  great  power. 
Allying  himself  in  political  trickery  with  Alice  Ferrers,  he 
winked  at  the  malpractices  of  the  court.  When  Parliament 
at  last  set  about  the  work  of  reform,  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  . 
was  recognized  as  a  most  dangerous  opponent. 

The   Good  Parliament    (1376).  —  The  grievances   of  the   Green, 
people  were  voiced  by  the  House  of  Commons,  now  at  last   pp-  233-235- 
grown  strong  enough  to  act  in  advance  of  the  Lords.     En- 
couraged by  the  support  of  Prince  Edward,  they  presented  a 
remonstrance,  boldly  complaining  of  the  extravagance  and 
corruption  of  the  court  and  denouncing  the  king's  ministers 

1  The  last  of  the  Angevins  :  — 

Edward  III 
I 


Edward,  the  Black       Lionel,  Duke      John  of  Gaunt,              Edmund,  Thomas, 

Prince,  d.  1376            of  Clarence     Duke  of  Lancaster  Duke  of  York  Duke  of 

•n-  ,       ,  Jt                                 '                               '                                    I  Gloucester 

Kichard  II,  1377-1399     Philippa                Henry  IV  , ,  | 


Edmund         Richard       Anne 


164  TJic  Rise  of  tlic  Commons 

as  evil  counsellors.  At  first  the  reformers  carried  every- 
Impeach-  thing  before  them.  Lyons  and  Latimer,  officers  of  the  king, 
ment  of  the  were  accused  of  gigantic  financial  frauds  and  solemnly  im- 
officers,  peached.     Heavy  fines  were  imposed  on  Alice  Ferrers  and 

1376-  others,  convicted  of  receiving  bribes.     A  Council  of  Govern- 

ment was  chosen,  composed  of  men  who  could  be  trusted 
to  guard  the  interests  of  the  nation.  Petitions  were  pre- 
sented, one  hundred  and  forty  in  number,  protesting  against 
the  maladministration  of  the  kingdom.  The  old  king  bent 
his  head  before  this  storm  of  indignation  and  granted  all 
that  was  asked  of  him,  but  Lancaster  bided  his  time.  The 
death  of  Prince  Edward  that  same  year  struck  the  ground 
from  under  the  feet  of  the  reform  party.  His  son  Richard 
was  but  a  child  of  ten  years,  and  John  of  Gaunt  aspired  to 
the  succession.  Hardly  was  the  Good  Parliament  dissolved 
when  its  acts  were  arbitrarily  revoked  ;  Alice  Perrers,  Lati- 
mer, and  Lyons  were  recalled,  and  the  leaders  of  the  reform 
party  punished.  Lancaster  convened  a  Parliament  the 
following  spring,  having  first  looked  well  to  it  that  the 
representatives  sent  to  the  House  of  Commons  should  be 
such  as  would  serve  his  purpose.  From  an  assembly  so 
packed  no  resistance  was  to  be  feared,  and  necessary 
supplies  were  granted  without  opposition.  So  the  first 
.  attempt  of  the  Lower  House  to  reform  the  government  was 
undone  because  there  was  not  in  the  representative  body 
sufficient  staying  power  for  persistent  opposition. 

Minority  of  Richard  II. —  Lnmediately  on  the  death  of 
the  old  king,  a  council  of  regency  was  appointed  with  John  of 
Gaunt  at  its  head.  His  administration  was  far  from  brilliant. 
The  war  with  France  was  renewed,  but  carried  on  with  so  little 
energy  that  Ghent  and  Flanders  passed  into  French  control, 
and  the  Flemish  trade,  a  rich  source  of  profit,  was  lost  to 
England.  P>ance  grew  so  bold  as  to  undertake  invasion  in 
her  turn.  A  force  was  landed  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  rav- 
aged the  south  coast.  The  formidable  insurrection  of  the 
people  that  broke  out  in  1381  was  in  its  political  aspects 
a  protest  against  the  misgovernment  of  Lancaster. 


Richard  II 

Westminster  Abbey.     Perhaps  the  oldest  authenticated  Portrait  in  England 


Richard  IPs  Deposition  165 

The  inconstant  Gaunt  went  over-sea  in  1386  to  follow  a 
wild-goose  chase  in  pursuit  of  the  Spanish  crown,  and  the 
regency  came  to  the  hands  of  the  youngest  of  the  king's 
uncles,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester.  Hitherto  Richard  had 
been  allowed  to  choose  his  own  ministers  and  to  waste  the 
royal  revenues  unmolested.  Inquiry  was  now  made  into  the 
abuses  of  the  court,  and  a  council  of  reform  was  intrusted 
with  the  government.  The  king's  effort  to  free  himself  was 
successfully  withstood  by  the  Lords  Appellant,^  and  the 
"Merciless  Parliament"  (1388),  acting  at  the  instance  of  "Merciless 
Gloucester,  impeached  the  friends  and  ministers  of  Richard  P^rlia- 
and  condemned  them  to  death.  Thus  far  the  young  king  1388.' 
had  seemed  a  submissive  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  party  in 
power;  but  in  1389  he  suddenly  shook  off  the  restraint  of 
the  Council,  announced  himself  of  age,  and  took  possession 
of  the  government. 

The  Absolutism  of  Richard  II.  —  For  eight  years  Richard 
reigned  in  accordance  with  constitutional  forms,  but,  in  1397, 
this  policy  was  sharply  reversed.  Having  secured  a  long 
truce  with  P>ance  by  his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of 
Charles  VI,  Richard,  relieved  of  the  embarrassment  of 
foreign  war,  found  his  hands  free  to  strike  the  long-delayed 
blow  at  the  Lords  Appellant.  One  after  another  they  were 
seized,  executed,  or  sent  into  exile.  A  packed  Parliament 
voted  their  condemnation,  declared  the  acts  of  the  "  Merci- 
less Parliament"  void,  granted  the  king  a  wool  subsidy  for 
life,  and  vested  the  legislative  power  in  a  permanent  com- 
mittee made  up  of  twelve  peers  and  six  commoners.  Rich- 
ard now  seemed  absolute.  Taxes  were  levied  without  regard  Green, 
to  right  or  usage.  Men  were  even  compelled  to  sign  blank  PP-  261,  262. 
promises  to  pay,  which  the  king  filled  up  with  the  sum  he 
chose.  Richard's  enemies  were  thrown  into  prison  or  sent 
into  exile  without  show  of  right. 

His  Deposition.  —  But  the  work  of  two  centurie?i  could  not 

1  The  five  great  nobles  who  brought  accusation  of  treason  against  the 
king's  counsellors,  —  Gloucester,  Arundel,  Warwick,  Nottingham,  and 
Bolingbroke. 


broke. 


1 66  The  Rise  of  the  Commons 

be  so  easily  undone.     The  party  of  resistance  found  a  leader 
Henry  in  Henry  Bolingbroke,  Duke  of  Hereford,  son  and  heir  of 

hrnu^^'  John  of  Gaunt.     The  prince,  exiled  by  arbitrary  decree  of 

the  king,  returned  in  1399  to  claim  not  only  his  confiscated 
ancestral  estates,  but  the  crown  itself.  All  elements  of  the 
opposition  flocked  to  his  standard,  —  outraged  nobles  no  less 
than  rebellious  commons.  Richard,  betrayed  into  the  hands 
of  his  foes,  was  forced  to  resign  the  throne.  "  Your  people, 
my  lord,"  said  Lancaster,  "  complain  that  for  the  space  of 
twenty  years  you  have  ruled  them  harshly ;  however,  if  it 
please  God,  I  will  help  you  to  rule  them  better."  "  Fair 
cousin,"  responded  the  helpless  Richard,  "  since  it  pleases 
you,  it  pleases  me  well."  The  king  was  tried  in  full  Par- 
liament and  declared  to  be  "  useless,  incompetent,  and 
altogether  insufficient  and  unworthy."  The  grounds  for 
deposition  were  faithlessness  toward  divers  of  the  great 
lords,  transgression  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  nation, 
and  the  assertion  of  absolute  sovereignty.  It  was  the  tragic 
failure  of  Edward  H  repeated,  but  with  a  deeper  significance. 
We  may  see  a  Piers  Gaveston  in  Robert  de  Vere  and  a 
Thomas  of  Lancaster  in  the  Duke  of  Gloucester ;  but  Rich- 
ard was  a  stronger  man  than  Edward.  His  real  character 
and  purposes  are  probably  distorted  in  the  partisan  report 
given  us  by  the  friends  of  the  rival  dynasty.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  he  definitely  projected  an  absolute  sovereignty. 
The  victory  of  Lancaster  may  thus  be  justly  regarded  as  the 
triumph  of  constitutional  government. 

Intellectual  Revival.  —  In  the  realm  of  thought  as  well 
as  in  that  of  politics,  the  influence  of  the  people  began  to 
make  itself  felt.  The  barren  controversies  of  the  scholastics 
were  cast  aside  by  the  new  university  students.  Men  turned 
from  the  contemplation  of  abstruse  problems  of  theology  to 
more  vital  social  and  moral  questions. 

It  was  most  natural  that  this  humanist  literature  should 
be  expressed  in  the  speech  of  the  people.  The  fourteenth 
century,  indeed,  witnessed  the  final  triumph  of  the  English 
language.     Though  Latin  continued  for  some  time  yet  to 


Chancer 


167 


be  spoken  in  the  universities,  English  was,  by  the  reign  of 
Richard  II,  commonly  used  in  the  lower  schools,  and  from 
that  time  the  native  speech  began  to  be  used  in  Parliament 
and  in  the  courts  of  law.  French  was  still  affected  by  the 
aristocracy ;  but  Chaucer  and  Langland  and  Wiclif,  the  great 
writers  of  the  age,  made  noble  use  of  the  native  tongue. 

Chaucer.  —  In  Geoffrey  Chaucer,  the  effect  of  Norman 
blood  and  continental 
culture  makes  itself 
felt  by  a  lightness  and 
grace  foreign  to  the 
Saxon  genius  ;  but  in 
a  certain  simplicity 
and  sincerity  of  ex- 
pression, in  the  frank 
realism  of  his  thought, 
he  is  wholly  English. 
His  Canterbury  pil- 
grims prance  gayly 
through  blooming 
lanes  to  the  music 
of  song  and  bagpipe, 
shortening  the  way 
with  merry  tales. 
The  characteristic 
figures  of  mediaeval 
EngUsh  society  ride 
in  the  picturesque 
cavalcade.  First  of 
the    merry    company 

appears  the  courteous  knight  who  has  proved  his  valor  on 
many  a  battlefield  of  France.  Well  he  loves  "  truth  and 
honor,  freedom  and  courtesy."  He  and  the  blithe  young 
squire  who  holds  pace  at  his  side,  "  a  lover  and  a  lusty 
bachelor,"  represent  the  best  fruit  of  mediaeval  chivalry. 
The  attendant  yeoman,  "  clad  in  coat  and  hood  of  green," 
bearing   in  hand  a  "  mighty  bow,"   may   well   be   one  of 


Chaucer 


Green, 

PP-  235,  236. 


Green, 

pp.  219-222. 


Traill,  II, 
pp.  206-222. 


Prologue  to 

the  Canter- 
bury Tales, 


1 68  TJic  Rise  of  the  Commons 

those  who  fought  at  Crecy  and  Poitiers.  Worthy  to  ride 
among  the  gentry,  in  his  own  estimation  at  least,  is  the 
merchant  with  forked  beard  and  foreign  dress,  "  boasting 
ahvays  the  increase  of  his  winning."  Of  the  gentry,  too, 
are  the  sergeant  of  law,  "  wary  and  wise,"  a  consequential 
body  who  ever  "  seemed  busier  than  he  was,"  and  the 
doctor  of  physic  who  has  grown  rich  on  the  Black  Death 
and  is  dressed  in  scarlet  and  sky-blue  silk  like  a  great 
gentleman.  The  penniless  clerk  of  Oxford  bestrides  a 
horse  as  lean  "  as  is  a  rake."  Hollow-eyed  and  sober, 
clad  in  threadbare  coat,  it  is  clear  at  a  glance  that  like 
his  great  predecessor,  Roger  Bacon,  he  spent  all  he  could 
beg  or  borrow  "  on  books  and  on  learning."  A  very  differ- 
ent character  is  the  fresh  and  ruddy  franklin  (freeholder), 
of  excellent  appetite,  in  whose  hospitable  hall  it  "  snowed 
of  meat  and  drink."  The  worthy  vassal  of  a  great  lord, 
he  has  many  times  represented  his  shire  in  Parliament  and 
has  even  served  as  sheriff  of  the  county  court. 

It  is  a  marvellously  vivid  picture,  a  panorama  of  mediaeval 

society,  which  teaches  more  of  actual  conditions  than  many 

a  learned  volume  ;  but  it  is  after  all  a  superficial  view  that 

Chaucer  gives  us.     He  does  not  adequately  represent  the 

forces  at  work  in  fourteenth-century  England.     His  is  the 

eye  of  an  artist,  delighting  in  the  play  of  light  and  shade, 

and  overlooking  the  sadder  aspects  of  life. 

Green,  William  Langland.  —  Not  so  Langland ;  the  rugged,  in- 

PP-  255-258.     artistic  lines  of  this  poor  village  priest  bear  witness  to  the 

Traill  II         E,™'^  life-battle  waged  by  the  men  of  humble  birth.     The 

225-228.  world  was  to  him  no  gay  show  where  a  man  might  look 

on  at  the  play,  a  disinterested   spectator.     Chaucer  could 

jest  at  the  corruption   of  the  clergy,   the  venality  of  the 

courts,  the  arrogance  of  the  upper  classes,  the  servile  vices 

of  the  poor,  for,  well-fed  gentleman  that  he  was,  his  personal 

happiness  and  that  of  his  social  order  were  not  at  stake  ; 

but  to  Langland,  born  and  bred  among  the  people,  making 

their  struggle  and  sorrow  his  own,  the  misery  of  a  world  out 

of  joint  was  a  matter  of  galling  personal  experience. 


William  Lans^land 


169 


In  the  Vision  of  William  co7icerning  Piers  Plowman,  we   The  Pro- 
are  shown,  not   a  jocund  cavalcade   riding  through   April  ^^g"*^  ^^ 
sunshine,    but   a   panorama   of  busy   toil.     Wandering   on   thePlowman 
Malvern  Hills,  bathing  a  troubled  spirit  in  the  beauty  of  a 
May  morning,  the  poet  sinks  down  in  weariness  by  a  brook- 
side  and  falls  asleep.     He  dreams  that  the  world  lies  before 
him,  "a  fair  field  full  of  folk."     Toward  the  east,  standing 
out  clear  against  the  sunlight,  rises  a  tower,  which  is  the 
habitation  of  Truth,   the   Father   and    Redeemer  of  men. 
On  the  other  hand  the  ground  sinks  to  a  deep  vale  where 
lies  a  dungeon,  "  the  castle  of  care."     Wrong  dwells  therein, 
the  Father  of  Falsehood,  the  Tempter.     In  the  plain  be- 
tween, all   manner  of  men,   the   mean   and    the   rich,   are 


Bakers  and  Cooks,  a.d.  1338-1344 

From  "  Ms.  Bodl.  Misc.  264,"  in  Green,  Short  History  0/ the  English  People 


"  working  and  wandering  as  the  world  asketh,"  unconscious 
of  the  influences  that  play  upon  them,  moving  them  for 
evil  or  for  good.  Serfs  toil  at  the  plough,  with  rare  intervals 
for  pastime,  painfully  winning  what  their  glutton  lords  will 
soon  waste  in  revelry.  Merchants  buy  and  sell,  making 
snug  fortunes  in  thriving  trade.  Barons  are  here,  and  their 
bondsmen,  burgesses  and  city  rabble,  side  by  side.  All 
manner  of  artisans,  men  and  women,  ply  their  trades,  bakers 
and  brewers  and  butchers,  tailors  and  tinkers,  and  weavers 
of  woolen  and  linen  cloth.  These  are  thrifty  craftsmen  and 
well  able  to  earn  their  own  living ;  but  one  sees  others, 
lazy  louts,  good  for  nothing  but  spading  and  ditching,  who 
while  away  the  tedium  of  the  day's  labor  with  ribald  songs. 


I/O  TJic  Rise  of  the  Commons 

Some  there  are  who  manage  to  live  without  work.  These 
wander  through  the  land  singing  gay  glees  in  rich  men's 
halls,  or,  feigning  folly,  earn  many  a  good  penny  by  tumbling 
and  jesting.  Stout  beggars,  too,  with  whining  lies,  entreat 
the  alms  that  will  be  spent  in  drunken  riot.  Here  and 
there  in  the  motley  throng  run  cooks  and  their  serving  boys 
crying,  "  Hot  pies,  hot  !  Nice  roast  pigs  and  geese  !  Come 
and  dine,  come!"  while  taverners  stand  at  the  inn  door 
calling  out  the  merits  of  their  choice  drinks,  the  red  wine 
of  Gascony  and  the  white  wine  of  Alsace.  Some,  turning 
their  backs  upon  such  fleshly  delights,  give  themselves  to 
prayer  and  penance,  hoping  to  "  win  heaven's  bliss."  A 
hundred  or  more  sly  fellows  are  hanging  about,  law  ser- 
geants, "  who  plead  a  case  for  pence  and  pounds,  never 
for  love  of  our  Lord." 

This  picture  of  the  world,  as  it  looked  to  an  honest  priest, 
would  be  incomplete  without  the  pious  rout  of  monks  and 
friars,  pilgrims  and  palmers  that  go  to  Rome  to  do  honor 
to  the  saints,  and  return  with  "  leave  to  lie  all  their  life 
after " ;  wanton  hermits,  long-legged  lubbers,  who,  being 
too  lazy  to  work,  wear  the  celibate's  habit  and  live  at  their 
ease;  friars  in  plenty  —  "  all  the  four  orders"  —  preaching 
to  the  people  for  their  own  profit,  interpreting  the  Scriptures 
to  suit  their  own  purposes.  In  the  midst  stands  a  pardoner, 
armed  with  a  papal  bull,  and  professing  to  have  power  to 
absolve  men  from  falsehoods  and  broken  vows.  The  igno- 
rant people  believe  him  and  throng  to  his  feet,  bringing 
rings  and  brooches  and  hard-earned  pennies  to  pay  for  the 
Pope's  indulgence.  Langland  pours  out  the  vials  of  his 
wrath  upon  the  monks  and  friars.  Toward  the  secular 
clergy  he  is  somewhat  less  severe,  but  the  parish  priests  are 
depicted  as  complaining  that  their  people  are  too  poor  to 
support  them  and  begging  leave  to  go  up  to  London,  that 
they  may  win  silver  by  singing  masses  for  the  rich  in  sculp- 
tured chantries.  The  superior  clergy,  too,  desert  their  rural 
charges  and  flock  to  London  with  the  rest,  hoping  for  some 
fat  office  in  the  king's  employ. 


The  Popular  Protest  I /I 

Langland's  Vision  was  one  of  the  most  popular  books  of 
its  day.  Written  in  the  rough  vernacular,  its  alliterative 
verse  caught  the  ear  of  the  people  and  fixed  itself  in  peas- 
ant memory.  Reading  was  still  a  rare  accomplishment,  but 
this  poet  of  democracy  had  disciples  and  interpreters  who 
carried  his  message  far  and  wide.  Gathered  about  a  tavern  . 
table  or  lounging  on  the  village  green,  the  group  of  rustics 
listened  while  some  gaunt  clerk  of  Oxford  read  the  story  of 
the  humble  Plowman,  the  Christ  returned  to  earth,  who  so 
gently  teaches  knight  and  cleric  their  duty,  guiding  wander- 
ing pilgrims  to  the  well-nigh  forgotten  shrine  of  Truth.  The 
seed  so  sown  bore  fruit  in  the  Lollard  movement  and  in  the 
Peasant  Revolt. 

Wealth  and  Corruption  of  the  Church.  — This  is  the  de- 
generate period  of  the  English  Church.  Wealth  and  power 
had  so  far  contaminated  the  upper  ranks  of  the  hierarchy 
that  the  superior  clergy  regarded  themselves  as  privileged 
recipients  of  the  contributions  of  the  faithful,  rather  than 
as  the  servants  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  The  ambitious 
and  the  lazy  found  holy  orders  much  to  their  liking,  and 
crowded  into  the  Church  and  the  monastic  establishments 
until  they  far  outnumbered  the  religious  requirements  of  the 
nation.  Their  maintenance  imposed  a  heavy  burden  on  the 
resources  of  the  country.  The  Church  held  fully  one-third 
of  the  landed  property  in  England,  while  the  income  from 
the  offerings  of  the  people  amounted  to  twice  the  royal  rev- 
enue. Great  ecclesiastics  like  \^'ykeham,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, used  the  diocesan  revenues  to  build  magnificent 
additions  to  their  cathedrals.  The  beautiful  churches  they 
erected  contributed  more  to  the  cause  of  art  than  to  that 
of  religion,  since  the  cost  was  paid  by  a  grudging  people. 

The  Popular  Protest.  — The  influence  of  the  Church  over   Green, 
the  minds  and   hearts  of  the  people  was  not  strong  enough  PP-  ^52.  253. 
to    enable    the   clergy  to   withstand   the   protest   raised  by 
the    awakened    thought   of  England.      Chaucer's    polished 
sarcasm  and  Langland's  fierce  denunciation  were  echoed  by 
many  lesser  observers.     Jests  and  gibes  against  the  clergy 


172 


The  Rise  of  the  Commons 


Trevelyan, 
ch.  IV,  V. 


Traill,  II, 
157-160. 


The 

Babylonish 

captivity. 


found  ready  listeners  in  the  hut  of  the  peasant  and  at  the 
court  of  the  king.  Yet  the  spirit  of  reUgion  was  not  dead 
in  England.  Men  knew  and  loved  righteousness  and  pure 
devotion.  "  When  all  treasures  are  tested,  Truth  is  the  best," 
says  Langland  in  the  person  of  Holy  Church,  and  Chaucer 
reverences  the  good  priest  who  practised  even  better  than 
he  preached. 

Protest  against  the  pretensions  of  the  Church  found  ex- 
pression in  deed  as  well  as  in  word.  Schools  for  secular 
education  were  opened  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  More 
colleges  than  monasteries  were  founded,  more  hospitals  than 
friaries.^  A  series  of  parliamentary  enactments  undertook 
to  restrain  the  power  of  the  Pope  and  to  check  the  worldly 
ambitions  of  the  English  clergy.  The  Statute  of  Praemunire 
(1353)  forbade  the  reception  or  execution  of  bulls  from  the 
Pope,  together  with  any  appeal  from  English  tribunals  to  the 
papal  court.  The  Statute  of  Provisors  (135 1)  denied  to  the 
Pope  the  right  of  appointing  foreigners  to  English  benefices. 
In  1366,  the  tribute  of  one  thousand  marks,  which  John  had 
promised  to  the  Holy  See,  but  which  had  not  been  paid  for 
thirty  years,  was  refused  once  for  all.  The  Good  Parliament 
protested  against  other  papal  exactions.  "  The  Pope's  reve- 
nue from  England  alone  is  larger  than  that  of  any  prince  in 
Christendom.-  God  gave  his  sheep  to  be  pastured,  not  to 
be  shaven  and  shorn."  In  1377  was  mooted  the  question 
whether,  in  view  of  the  impoverished  state  of  the  country, 
Peter's  pence  might  not  properly  be  withheld.  Such  bold 
defiance  of  the  Holy  See  was  justified  in  the  minds  of  con- 
temporary Englishmen  by  the  degenerate  state  of  the  Pa- 
pacy. These  are  the  years  (1309-1377)  of  the  "  Babylonish 
captivity."  The  Popes  dwelt  in  exile  at  Avignon,  an  iso- 
lated bit  of  papal  domain  which  lay  so  near  the  territo- 
ries of  the  king  of  France  that  it  could  hardly  escape 
his  influence.     The  English  people  scoffed  at  "  the  French 

1  There  were  78  colleges  and  192  hospitals  founded  in  England  during 
the  fourteenth  century,  but  only  64  monasteries. 

■^  20,000  marks  a  year  were  sent  to  the  papal  treasury. 


Wiclif  and  the  Reforni  Movement 


173 


Pope  "  and  suspected  him  of  being  but  a  puppet  in  the 
hands  of  their  foe.  In  1378  began  the  Great  Schism; 
and  for  fifty  years  thereafter  the  rival  Popes  of  Rome  and 
Avignon  contested  the  powers  and  privileges  of  the  Holy 
See.  This  unholy  dissension  further  alienated  the  loyalty 
of  thinking  men,  till  it  became   evident   that  reform  could 


WiCI.lF 


not  long  be  delayed.  The  attack  on  the  English  clergy 
was  led  by  John  of  Gaunt.  The  political  honors  of  the 
great  churchmen  were  intolerable  to  this  ambitious  prince, 
and  he  set  about  curbing  their  pretensions.  A  statute  passed 
in  137 1  declared  the  clergy  disquahfied  for  civil  ofifice, 
and  a  tax  was  levied  on  Church  lands  acquired  since  1292. 
Wiclif  and  the  Reform  Movement.  —  On  the  part  of 
Lancaster  and  the  lords,  this  assault  on  the  power  and 
wealth  of  the  Church  was  not  disinterested,  but  they  found 


160-172. 


174  1^^^  Rise  of  the  Commons 

a  champion  whose  single-hearted  zeal  for  reform  cannot  be 

Green,  called  in  question.     John  Wiclif,  the  first  great  protestant, 

pp-  23s,  236,     ^y^g  ^  learned  doctor  of  Oxford,  whose  fame  had  secured 
238-244. 

him  the  honorable  post  of  chaplain  to  the  king.    His  views  on 

Traill,  II,  the  relation  of  Church  and  State  had  attracted  the  attention 
of  John  of  Gaunt,  and  this  crafty  politician  had  bestowed 
upon  him  the  doubtful  favor  of  his  patronage.  Wiclif 
had  ably  seconded  the  endeavor  of  Parliament  to  restrict 
the  privileges  of  the  Pope  and  the  English  clergy,  arguing 
that  such  power  and  wealth  were  inconsistent  with  the 
teachings  of  Christ.  The  essential  feature  of  Wiclif s 
reform  was  the  endeavor  to  recall  the  Church  to  Apostolic 
Christianity.  Since  God  had  revealed  Himself  as  the  Re- 
deemer of  men,  each  human  soul  might  have  access  to  the 
divine  life  and  was  responsible  to  God  alone.  The  media- 
tion of  the  priest  was  unnecessary,  and  the  ecclesiastical 
hierarchy  with  its  pride  and  its  greed  for  power  was  a 
fungous  growth  upon  the  Church  of  Christ.  The  claim  of 
a  sinful  man  to  act  as  vicegerent  of  Christ  was  blasphemous. 
No  authority  could  be  legitimate  that  was  not  sanctioned 
by  God.  Ruler  and  priest  alike  held  of  him.  Obedience 
need  not  be  rendered  nor  tribute  paid  to  an  unrighteous 
lord,  though  he  were  the  king  himself. 

The  Opposition.  —  Such  doctrines  quickly  called  down 
upon  Wiclif  the  condemnation  of  the  ecclesiastical  authori- 
ties. The  friars  raised  the  first  cry  of  alarm.  Their 
bigotry  and  immorality  had  excited  the  indignation  of 
Wiclif,  and  they  writhed  under  many  a  scathing  denuncia- 
tion at  his  hands.  Now  his  bold  utterances  against  the 
papal  supremacy  gave  them  opportunity  for  revenge. 
Courtenay,  Bishop  of  London,  the  champion  of  clerical 
privilege  and  the  sworn  foe  of  John  of  Gaunt,  summoned 
Wiclif  to  defend  himself  against  the  charge  of  heresy. 
Lancaster  maintained  his  cause,  and  the  citizens  of  London 
made  a  demonstration  in  his  behalf;  but  the  accusation 
was  renewed,  and  he  was  finally  condemned  (1382)  by  a 
synod  of  the  clergy. 


The  Opposition 


175 


The  last  eight  years  of  Wiclif's  hfe  were  overshadowed 
by  persecution  so  persistent,  so  formidable,  that  a  feebler 
spirit  would  have  quailed  before  it ;  but  he  maintained  un- 
daunted confidence  in  God  and  in  the  truth  as  he  saw 
it.  The  faith  he  defended  grew  clearer  while  he  argued. 
Pardons,  indulgences,  pilgrimages,  were  one  after  another 
declared  of  no  avail.  The  climax  was  reached  when  he 
boldly  denied  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  the  corner 
stone  of  priestly  authority.     At   this   his    friends  wavered. 


Preaching  in  the  Open  Air,  a.d.  1338-1344 

"  Ms.   Bodl.  Misc.  264,"  in  Green,  Short  History  of  the  Etiglzsh  People 


John  of  Gaunt  protested  and  withdrew  his  support.  The 
Peasant  Revolt,  which  broke  out  at  this  inopportune  mo- 
ment, was  attributed  to  Wiclif  s  subversive  doctrines.  The 
condemnation  of  the  Church  Council  was  at  last  accepted 
by  the  Oxford  schoolmen  who  had  championed  his  cause, 
and  the  great  teacher  was  obliged  to  withdraw  to  his 
parish  church  at  Lutterworth.  Here,  as  if  despairing  to 
accomplish  reform  by  the  aid  of  princes  and  learned  men, 
he  devoted  his  energies  to  translating  the  Bible  into  the  Traill,  II, 
speech  of  the  people  and  to  training  disciples  —  his  "  poor  PP-  222-224. 
priests"  —  who  should  perpetuate  his  message.  In  1384 
he    was    summoned    to    Rome    to    defend    his    doctrines 


1/6 


TJic  Rise  of  the  Commons 


before  the  Pope,  but  a  stroke  of  paralysis  rendered  the 
journey  a  physical  impossibility.  Condemnation  was  inevi- 
table. Wiclif  died  before  the  Pope's  anathema  could  reach 
him,  but  his  doctrine  was  denounced  as  heresy  and  his  writ- 
ings were  condemned  to  be  burned. 

The  Lollards. —  Not  so,  however,  was  the  work  of  the  great 
reformer  undone.  The  students  of  Oxford  cherished  his 
memory  and  the  people  secretly  revered  the  valiant  advo- 
cate of  the  rights  of  man  against  iniquitous  privilege.  His 
"  poor  priests  "  became  most  zealous  evangelists.  They  are 
described  in  a  contemporary  statute  as  "  going  from  county 
to  county  and  from  town  to  town  in  certain  habits,  under 
dissimulation  of  great  holiness,  preaching  daily,  not  only  in 
churches  and  churchyards,  but  also  in  markets,  fairs,  and 
other  open  places  where  a  great  congregation  of  people  is." 
The  writings  burned  in  accordance  with  papal  decree  were 
reproduced  with  marvellous  rapidity,  and  copies  of  Wiclifs 
Bible  were  furtively  read  in  the  homes  of  the  nobility,  in 
the  court  of  the  king.^  Knighton  says,  doubtless  with 
some  exaggeration,  that  every  second  man  one  met  was  a 
WicHfite. 

Industrial  Progress.  —  A  reform  movement  of  greater 
immediate  result  than  that  of  Wiclif  and  the  Lollards  was 
agitating  the  people  during  this  vital  century.  The  laboring 
population  —  the  ignored  nine-tenths  of  the  nation  —  were 
waking  to  self-consciousness  and  striving  to  free  themselves 
from  the  fetters  of  feudal  dependence.  This  upward  move- 
ment had  its  origin  in  the  industrial  prosperity  of  the  period. 
England  was  sufficiently  removed  from  the  imbroglios  of 
the  Continent  to  escape  the  devastating  wars  that  checked 
productive  enterprise  abroad.  The  quarrels  in  which  the 
country  was  involved  by  the  ambitious  projects  of  her  kings 
were  fortunately  fought  out  on  foreign  soil.  They  did  not 
directly  interfere  with  England's  industrial  development.     In 

1  Anne  of  Bohemia,  the  first  queen  of  Richard  II,  possessed  a  copy  of 
Wiclifs  Bible.  Through  her  the  works  of  the  English  reformer  found  their 
way  to  Bohemia  and  there  inspired  the  ill-fated  protest  of  Huss  and  Jerome. 


Industrial  Pi'o stress 


177 


the  reign  of  Edward  III  an  effort  was  made  to   advance   Traill,  ii, 
commercial  interests,  with  a   view  to  developing  the    tax-   PP-  ^°°-^o7- 

rill  r^        •  r  Cunning- 

paymg  power  of  the  kmgdom.  Foreign  merchants  were  ham,  pp. 
admitted  to  full  trade  privileges  within  the  realm  and,  when  74-78. 
they  encountered  the  jealous  opposition  of  the  English 
traders,  were  taken  under  the  special  protection  of  the  king. 
Manufactures,  moreover,  were  systematically  encouraged. 
England  had  been,  hitherto,  an  agricultural  country,  and 
the  wool  cut  from  the  backs  of  English  sheep  had  been 
sent  to  Flanders  to  be  woven  and  dyed.  Only  the  coarsest 
cloths  were  manufactured  at  home,  for  skill  and  implements 


Spinning  with  a  Distaff,  early  Fourteenth  Century 

"  Ms.  Roy.  2  B  vii,"  in  Green,  Short  History  of  the  English  People 


were  still  of  the  rudest.     With  a  view  to  developing  this 

"infant  industry,"   Edward  III  offered  asylum  to    Flemish   TheFlemish 

artisans,  who,  driven   from    their   own   land  by  civil  strife,   weavers. 

gladly  availed  themselves  of  the  royal  favor.     They  settled 

in  London,  Norwich,  and  the  eastern  counties,  and  gradually 

taught  English  workmen  better  methods  of  weaving.     The 

same  policy  was  carried  out  in  this  and  later  centuries  by 

N 


178 


TJie  Rise  of  the  Commons 


heavy  duties  imposed  on  the  importation  of  foreign  cloths 
and  the  exportation  of  wool. 

The  Artisans.— The  development  of  the  woolen  industry 
was   accompanied  by  a  marked  increase    in    the  numbers, 
wealth,  and  influence  of  the  artisan  class.     The  mediceval 
Green,  workman  occupied  a  very  different  position  from  that  of  the 

pp.  213-220.  modern  factory  operative.  Machinery  had  not  yet  super- 
seded skill,  and  labor,  not  capital,  was  the  essential  factor  in 
industry.  The  artisan  was  trained  for  his  craft  by  seven 
years'  apprenticeship,  and  might  spend  several  years  more 
in  the  trade  as  a  journeyman  laborer  before  his  training  was 


Traill,  II, 
109-114. 

Craftgilds. 


SriNMNc  wiiH  A  Wheel,  early  FuURTEEiNiii  Cem'urv 

"  Ms.  Roy.  10  E  iv,"  in  Green,  Short  History  0/ the  English  People 

regarded  as  complete.  The  fully  accredited  workman,  who 
had  saved  enough  money  to  buy  an  outfit  and  hire  a  shop, 
could  set  up  for  himself  as  a  master  craftsman.  As  such, 
he  bought  his  raw  material,  made  it  up  with  as  much  ex- 
cellence and  beauty  as  his  skill  allowed,  and  placed  the 
finished  article  in  his  own  shop  window  for  sale.  With  the 
increase  of  means,  he  added  to  the  number  of  his  looms 
and  hired  journeymen  or  took  on  apprentices  as  they  were 
needed.  He  was  capitalist,  employer,  and  workman  com- 
bined. Artisans  following  the  same  craft  soon  saw  the  ad- 
vantage of  uniting  for  the  furtherance  of  their  common 
interests.  Artisan  associations  were  formed  in  every  town 
where  there  was  a  considerable  body  of  men  engaged  in  the 
same  trade,  and  were  called  "  craftgilds  "  or  "  fellowships." 


The  Artisans 


179 


Several  such  gilds  trace  their  origin  back  to  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  but  the  political  and  economic  condi- 
tions of  the  period  under  consideration  were  especially  favor- 
able to  the  extension  of  the  system.  By  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century  there  was  hardly  a  trade  or  occupation 
that  was  not  so  organized.' 


Iron  Workers,  a.d.  1338-1344 

"Ms.  Bodl.  Misc.  264,"  in  Green,  Short  History  of  the  English  People 

A  monopoly  of  its  particular  industry  was  accorded  to  Cunning- 
the  gild,  and  it  was  held  responsible  by  the  town  authori-  ^^^' 
ties  for  the  honest  conduct  of  that  trade.  Fraudulent  sales, 
dishonest  or  bungling  workmanship,  were  punished  by  fine 
or  withdrawal  of  the  gild  privileges.  Unruly  members  were 
tried  by  the  officers  of  the  gild,  and  then  handed  over  to 
the  town  authorities  for  punishment.  The  craft,  no  less 
than  the  merchant  gild,  undertook  the  relief  of  sick  or 
disabled  members.  Hospitals  were  provided  and  charita- 
ble funds,  from  which  accidental  losses  might  be  made 
good,  and  widows  and  orphans  pensioned.  These  artisan 
associations  acquired  wealth  and   influence  hardly  inferior 

1  There  were  some  eighty  chartered  craftgilds  in  London.  Twelve  of 
these  still  exist,  viz. :  Mercers,  Grocers,  Drapers,  Fishmongers,  Goldsmiths, 
Skinners,  Merchant-Taylors,  Haberdashers,  Salters,  Ironmongers,  Vintners. 
and  Cloth-makers. 


i8o 


The  Rise  of  tJie  Commons 


Traill,  II, 
92-100. 


Green, 

pp.  260-262. 


to  that  of  the  older  trade  gilds.  They  won  coordinate 
part  in  the  town  government  and  in  the  election  of  the 
two  burgesses  who  represented  the  interests  of  the  munici- 
pality in  Parliament. 

The  Agricultural  Population.  —  In  manor  as  well  as  in 
town,  new  forces  were  coming  into  action,  and  the  restricted 
conditions  of  mediaeval  life  were  giving  way  before  the  aug- 
menting prosperity  of  the  people.  The  serf  population, 
ignored  and  despised  by  lord  and  townsman  alike,  with  no 
voice  in  the  shire  or  national  government  and  no  recourse 
against  oppression,  was  waking  to  a  sense  of  its  wrongs, 
making  ready  to  assert  its  right  to  "  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness."  Here,  as  in  the  town  community, 
economic  influences  were  at  work  which,  by  bettering  the 
material  condition  of  the  people,  inspired  them  with  courage 
to  demand  freedom.  Throughout  the  fourteenth  century 
there  was  a  general  and  increasing  tendency  to  commute 
labor  service  for  money.  Just  as  the  king  had  been  ready 
to  convert  military  service  into  scutage,  so  the  lord  found 
it  convenient  to  receive  a  payment  of  silver  in  lieu  of 
the  labor  hitherto  extorted  with  difficulty  from  the  reluc- 
tant cultivators  of  his  manor  lands.  Wherever  this  was  ac- 
complished, the  demesne  was  tilled  by  hired  laborers,  and 
the  proprietors  in  the  common  field  were  left  free  to  care 
for  their  own  holdings,  still  paying  rent  in  money  and 
produce.  The  thrifty  serf  was  now  in  a  fair  way  to  become 
a  small  peasant  owner,  while  his  less  industrious  or  less 
fortunate  fellow  might  lose  his  claim  to  the  land  and  drift 
into  the  class  of  free  laborers.  In  any  case  a  long  stride 
was  taken  toward  complete  emancipation  when  a  man  was 
once  rid  of  the  old  degrading  services. 

Effects  of  the  Black  Death.  —  From  two  great  disasters 
of  the  century,  the  famine  (1313  and  1315)  and  the  Black 
Death,  the  working  classes  reaped  an  incidental  advantage. 
The  falling  off  in  the  number  of  laborers,  especially  after  the 
Death,  occasioned  a  demand  for  higher  wages,  which  bailiffs 
were  forced   to  pay  or   to   leave   the  fields  untilled.     On 


Effects  of  the  Black  Death 


i8i 


Green, 

pp.  262-264. 


many  estates  cultivation  of  the  demesne  lands  was  aban- 
doned. The  consequent  scarcity  of  provisions  brought 
about  a  general  rise  in  the  price  of  food. 

Alarmed  by  the  insistent  demands  of  their  former  bond- 
men, the  landlords  appealed  to  the  king,  who,  without  waiting 
to  convene  Parliament,  issued  an  ordinance  decreeing  that 
the  former  rate  of  wages  should  be  enforced.     "  Because  a 
great  part  of  the   people   and  especially  of  the  workmen 
have  lately  died  of  the  pestilence,  many,  seeing  the  necessity 
of  masters  and  the  great  scarcity  of  servants,  will  not  serve 
unless  they  may  receive  excessive  wages,"  and  considering 
the  "  grievous  incommodities  "  which  from  the  lack  "  espe- 
cially of  plowmen  and  such  laborers  may  hereafter  come," 
"  the  king  ordains  that  every  man  and  woman  of  whatso- 
ever condition  he  be,  bond  or  free,  able  in  body  and  within 
the  age  of  three-score  years,  not  living  in   merchandise,  not 
exercising  any  craft,  nor  having  property  of  his  own  whereof 
he  may  live,  nor  land  of  his  own  to  till,"  shall  be  bound  to 
serve  the  lord  who  shall  require  his  labor  and  to  take  only 
such  wages  as  were   customarily  in   his    parish   before  the 
Pestilence.     Laborers  refusing  to  work  on  these  terms  were 
liable  to  imprisonment,  and  masters  offering  more  than  the 
legal  rate  of  wages  should  forfeit  double  the  sum  so  paid. 
The  artificers  and  workmen  of  the  towns  were  made  subject 
to  like  restrictions  and  penalties.     The  ordinance  was  ap- 
proved by  Parliament^  (135  i),  and  ten  statutes  to  the  same   statute  of 
import  were  enacted  within  the  next  fifty  years,  each  impos-   Laborers, 
ing  heavier  penalties  than  the  last,  but  in  vain.     Wages  rose   Traill,  11, 
steadily  from  an  average  of  threepence  a  day,  in  the  begin-    137-146. 
ning  of  the  century,  to  sixpence  at  its  close.     The  several 
Statutes  of  Laborers  were  so  many  attempts  to  dam  an  in- 
coming tide.  The  workmen  had  the  vantage-ground,  and  were 
able  to  enforce  their  claims.     There  is  evidence  to  show  that 
they  combined  to  resist  any  return  to  the  old  rates,  forming 
organizations  quite  comparable  to  the  modern  trades-unions. 
Violent  outbreaks  were  not  infrequent.     The  employing  class 

1  The  same  statute  regulated  the  prices  of  provisions. 


I82 


The  Rise  of  the  Commons 


Trevelyan, 
ch.  VI. 
Green, 
pp.  251-255. 


Traill,  II, 
242-245. 


took  alarm,  and  being  all-influential  in  Parliament,  passed, 
in  1360,  the  statute  against  "  covin  and  conspiracy,"  which 
declared  alliances  of  workmen  against  tlieir  masters  illegal. 

The  Peasants'  Revolt.  —  Legislation  could  not,  however, 
prevent  cunil)ination  among  laborers.  Secret  associations 
were  formed,  with  recognized  leaders  and  pass-words.  It  is 
probable  that  the  more  radical  of  the  Lollard  priests  aided 
the  movement  and  served  as  messengers  between  the  different 
sections  of  the  country.  Wiclif's  saying,  that  obedience  was 
not  due  to  an  unrighteous  lord,  was  interpreted  as  justifying 
revolt.  Matters  came  to  a  crisis  in  138 1,  when  the  people 
rose  in  insurrection.  Adequate  cause  for  the  rising  may  be 
found  in  the  discontent  of  the  hired  laborers  and  the  pro- 
tests of  the  villeins  against  the  ignoble  services  still  exacted 
by  their  lords;  but  the  immediate  occasion  was  the  imposi- 
tion of  the  poll  tax  in  13S0.  An  attempt  had  been  made  to 
distribute  the  burden  according  to  wealth  and  station;  the 
rich  merchant  or  landowner  was  to  pay  sixty  groats,^  the 
poorest  workman  no  less  than  one.  For  every  child  above 
fifteen  years  the  tax  was  enacted.  This  was  far  more  just 
than  previous  levies,  but  to  the  aggrieved  peasant  the  tax 
was  exorbitant,  and  its  ruthless  collection  seemed  the  last  un- 
endurable grievance.  The  revolt  broke  out  simultaneously 
in  Kent,  Essex,  and  Hertfordshire,  and  spread  with  mar- 
vellous rapidity  into  all  the  southeastern  counties.  There 
were  similar  risings  in  districts  as  remote  as  York  and  Lan- 
cashire and  Devon.  All  accounts  of  the  insurrection  are 
written  from  the  view- point  of  the  landowner  or  the  eccle- 
siastic, and  it  is  consistently  represented  as  a  wicked  rebel- 
lion against  the  constituted  authorities  of  Church  and  State. 

The  insurgents  first  attacked  the  manor  houses  and  did 
considerable  damage,  being  bent  on  destroying  the  court- 
rolls  which  recorded  the  ancient  servile  dues.  Then  they 
set  out  for  London,  marching  in  scattered  detachments, 
village  by  village.  Their  leader,  Wat  Tyler,  whom  Froissart 
describes  as  "  a  bad  man  and  a  great  enemy  to  the  nobility," 

1  The  groat  was  a  coin  worth  ^d. ,  or  nearly  4J.  in  money  of  to-day. 


TJie  Peasants    Revolt  183 

had  learned  something  of  generalship  in  the  French  wars.  Froissart's 
Arrived  at  London,  a  rabble  of  about  one  hundred  thousand  account, 
men,  not  one  in  twenty  armed,  they  found  the  gates  closed 
and  the  government  prepared  for  resistance.  The  common 
people  of  London,  however,  sympathized  with  the  revolt. 
In.  response  to  their  protests,  the  gates  were  opened  and 
the  insurgents  entered  the  city.  Some  violence  was  inevi- 
table. Savoy  Palace,  the  residence  of  John  of  Gaunt,  was 
burned.  The  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  as  king's 
chancellor,  had  proposed  the  poll  tax,  was  beheaded,  to- 
gether with  many  lawyers  and  some  unfortunate  Flemings 
and  Lombards.  Meanwhile,  the  king  and  his  counsellors, 
safely  ensconced  in  the  Tower,  debated  what  might  be 
done.  Should  they  gather  the  nobles  and  their  retainers, 
and,  falling  upon  the  rebels  in  the  night,  kill  them  "like 
flies"?  This  they  dared  not  do  for  fear  of  the  sympathetic 
populace.  It  was  determined  to  treat  with  the  enemy,  and 
the  king  sent  orders  that  the  insurgents  should  retire  to  "a 
handsome  meadow  at  Mile-end,'  where,  in  the  summer,  people 
go  to  amuse  themselves."  Arrived  at  the  place,  the  young 
king  rode  forward  bravely  enough,  saying  :  "  My  good  peo- 
ple, I  am  your  king  and  your  lord  ;  what  is  it  that  you  want, 
and  what  do  you  wish  to  say  to  me?"  Those  who  heard 
him  answered:  "We  wish  thou  wouldst  make  us  free  for- 
ever, us,  our  heirs,  and  our  lands,  and  that  we  should  be  no 
longer  called  slaves  nor  held  in  bondage."  The  king  re- 
plied :  "  I  grant  your  wish  ;  now,  therefore,  return  to  your 
homes,  leaving  two  or  three  men  from  each  village  ....  to 
whom  I  will  order  letters  to  be  given,  sealed  with  my  seal 
....  with  every  demand  you  have  made  fully  granted." 
Thirty  secretaries  were  immediately  set  to  work  to  draw  up 
the  charters  of  manumission,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
people  departed  for  their  homes,  saying  :  "It  is  well  said  ; 
we  do  not  wish  for  more."  Then  the  king's  party  threw  off 
the  mask  of  courtesy  and  good  humor.  Wat  Tyler  was 
foully  murdered.     Jack  Straw,  John  Ball,  and  other  ring- 

iThis  is  now  one  of  the  most  densely  populated  districts  of  London. 


1 84 


TJic  Rise  of  the  Commons 


Cunning- 
ham, 
pp.  41-45. 


leaders  were  seized  and  executed  without  form  of  trial ; 
many  serfs  suffered  death  at  the  hands  of  their  outraged 
masters.  The  villeins  had  no  resource,  since  the  land- 
owners were  all-influential  in  both  houses  of  Parliament. 
The  charters  of  manumission  were  revoked  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  granted  by  "  compulsion,  duress,  and  men- 
ace," and  an  act  of  pardon  was  passed,  exempting  from 
blame  and  pardon  any  lords  and  gentlemen  who,  in  the 
emergency,  had  taken  the  law  into  their  own  hands  and  in- 
flicted bodily  injury  on  their  bondmen. 

So  were  the  people  outwitted  and  the  insurrection  crushed 
in  blood.  The  dominant  classes  proved  too  strong  to  be 
withstood.  It  is  quite  probable  that  fear  of  another  rising 
induced  many  a  lord  to  abate  his  claims,  but  he  would  still 
enforce  what  he  could,  and  in  remote  districts  of  England 
serf-labor  persisted  into  the  sixteenth  century.^  The  event- 
ual emancipation  of  the  serfs  was  due,  not  to  insurrection  or 
legislation,  but  to  a  change  in  industrial  conditions  that  ren- 
dered serf-labor  no  longer  profitable. 


Si'F.ciMEN  OF  Early  Cannon 


Genealogical  Table 

Henry  III 

I 


Edward  I,  1274-1307 

I 
Edward  II.  1307-1327 

I 
Edward  III,  1327-1377 

I 


Edmund, 

I  Earl  of  Lancaster 
Thomas, 

Earl  of  Lancaster 
beheaded  1322 


I  I  I  I  I 

Edward,  the  Black     Lionel,  Duke        John  of  Gaunt,  Edmund,  Thomas, 

Prince  of  Clarence       Duke  of  Lancaster  Duke  of  York        Duke  of 

I  I  I  Gloucester 

Richard  II,  1377-1399    Philippa       Henry  IV,  1399-1413 


1  Queen  Elizabeth  enfranchised  the  bondmen  on  the  royal  estates  in  1574. 


Important  Events  185 

Important  Events 
Reign.  OF  Edward  II,  1307-1327. 

The  Ordinances,  131 1. 
Battle  of  Bannockburn,  1314. 
Downfall  of  Lancaster,  1322. 
Deposition  of  the  king,  1327. 

Reign  of  Edward  III,  1327-1377. 

The  French  Wars,  1336-1347,  1354-1360,  1368-1375, 
The  Black  Death,  1349,  1361,  1369. 
The  Good  Parliament,  1376. 

Reign  of  Richard  II,  1377-1399- 

The  French  Wars,  1 378-1 389. 
The  Peasant  Revolt,  1381. 
The  death  of  Wiclif,  1384. 
The  Merciless  Parliament,  1388. 
Richard  assumes  the  government,  1389. 
The  king's  coup  d^i'tat,  1397. 
Deposition  of  the  king,  1399. 


1 86  The  Rise  of  the  Commons 


►r  'T3n.M_Zl^*-'-'_Crirrt'^llj'6i. 


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CHAPTER   VII 

DYNASTIC   WARS 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 

Walsingham,  Hisioria  Anglicana. 

Elham,  Memorials  of  Henry  Ihe  Fifth. 

Sir  Thomas  More,  Edivard  V. 

The  Fasten  Letters. 

Wright,  Political  Foems  and  Songs  from  Edward  ITT  to  Richard  IL: 

Edith  Thompson,  The  Wars  of  York  and  Lancaster. 

Special  Authorities 

Hasted,  Life  of  Richard  ILL. 

Lowell,  yoaw  of  Arc. 

Green,  Tozon  L.ife  in  Fifteenth  Century. 

Oman,  Warwick  ;  England  and  the  L/nndred  Years'  War. 

Oman,  Political  LListory  of  England,  Vol.  IV,  ch.  VI-XX. 

Edwards,  England  from  12J2-14SJ. 

Denton,  The  Fifteenth  Century. 

Ima(;inative  Literature 

Shakespeare,  LLenry  LV,  Henry  F,  Henry  PF,  Richard  ILL. 
Lord  Lytton,  The  Last  of  the  Barons. 

Characteristics  of  the  Epoch.  — llie  fair  yiroini-se  of  the 
fourteenth  century  was  destined  to  fail  of  fulfihnent.  The 
hopes  and  aspirations  awakened  in  the  good  times  of 
Edward  III.  were  undone  by  the  great  calamities  which  fell 
upon  the  land  in  the  reign  of  his  successor.  War,  pesti- 
lence, and  famine  wrought  their  hideous  work,  sapping  the 
energies  that  should  have  gone  into  progress  and  expansion. 
The  forward  movement  toward  political,  religious,  and  in- 
dustrial freedom  proved  premature  and  abortive.      In  the 

187 


188  Dynastic  Wars 

fifteenth  century  the  best  achievements  of  the  preceding 
age  were  rendered  void.  Degeneration  and  decay  charac- 
terized every  aspect  of  the  national  life.  Politics  dwindled 
into  mere  strife  of  faction,  worship  passed  into  formalism, 
the  literary  impulse  ebbed,  and  social  relations  became 
demoralized  even  to  brutality. 
Blight,  I,  Henry  IV  (1399-1413).  — The  first  Lancastrian  came  to 

275.  276.  ^j^g  throne  pledged  to  respect  the  constitutional  rights  of 

the  nation.  His  usurpation  was  a  protest  against  the  mis- 
government  of  Richard  II,  and  success  was  achieved  by 
the  support  of  the  Lords  Appellant.  At  his  coronation,  he 
confirmed  the  ancient  laws  and  charters,  and  promised  to 
govern,  not  according  to  his  own  arbitrary  pleasure  but  by 
advice  of  the  estates  assembled  in  Parliament,  and  loyally 
did  the  king  keep  his  word.  Constitutional  forms  were 
scrupulously  observed.  Taxes  were  levied  and  laws  were 
passed  in  accordance  with  legal  requirements.  The  Com- 
mons attained  an  influence  in  legislation  equal  to  that  of 
the  Upper  House,  and  the  right  of  the  people's  representa- 
tives to  a  voice  in  all  matters  of  national  interest  was  fully 
conceded. 
Traill,  H,  Henry  IV  held  the  crown  by  the  will  of  the  nation,  not 

277-288.  i^y  hereditary  right.     This  was  the  secret  of  his  deference 

to  Parliament.  This,  too,  was  the  reason  for  his  weak 
compliance  to  less  legitimate  demands.  The  king  was 
forced  to  make  terms  with  factions  in  the  State,  and 
never  summoned  courage  to  overrule  them.  He  was  under 
heavy  obligations  to  the  great  lords  and  prelates  who  had 
combined  to  depose  Richard,  and  was  fain  to  reward  their 
zeal  by  rich  booty  in  titles  and  estates.  Arundel  ^  was  made 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  while  the  Percies^  and  the  Ne- 
villes^ were  given  ample  assurance  of  the  king's  favor. 
The  pensions  granted  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  amounted 
to  more  than   the   king's  total  income.     The  consequent 

1  Brother  of  the  Lord  Appellant  of  that  name. 

2  The  great  family  of  Northumberland. 
8  The  great  family  of  Westmoreland. 


Instiri'ectiojt  1 89 

requests  for  additional  taxes  soon  quenched  the  loyalty 
called  forth  by  Henry's  regard  for  constitutional  forms. 

Statute  against  Heretics. — The  king's  account  with  the 
Church  was  settled  by  prompt  legislation  against  Lollardry. 
Previous  measures  of  repression  had  been  ineffective.  The  Traill,  ii, 
doctrine  of  Wiclif  was  preached  through  the  length  and  ^^7-293- 
breadth  of  the  land,  and  the  reformed  faith  was  being 
accepted  not  only  by  peasants  and  artisans,  but  by  learned 
doctors  and  court  nobility.  The  clergy,  in  alarm,  appealed 
to  the  king  to  reenforce  the  ecclesiastical  sentence  by  civil 
penalty.  Henry  had  inherited  nothing  of  his  father's  quar- 
rel with  the  Church,  and  saw  in  the  Lollards  only  dangerous  Green, 
adherents  of  Richard.  He  readily  lent  his  influence  to  the  PP-  265-267. 
petition  which  resulted  in  the  first  act  against  heresy  in- 
scribed among  English  statutes  (1401).  The  confirmed 
heretic  was  to  be  burned  to  ashes  in  some  high  place  before 
the  eyes  of  the  people,  in  order  to  strike  fear  to  the  hearts 
of  any  who  might  be  wavering  in  the  faith.  Legislation 
restricting  the  privileges  of  the  clergy  would  have  been 
more  popular.  When,  however,  the  Commons  petitioned 
that  the  wealth  of  the  Church  should  be  confiscated  to  the 
uses  of  the  State,  the  king  sent  answer  that  "  from  thence- 
forth they  should  not  presume  to  study  about  any  such 
matters." 

Insurrection.  —  Not  all   these   efforts  to  conciliate   the   Bright,  I, 
influential  classes  could  guard  the  new-made  king  against  ^^^~^  *" 
rebellion.     Richard's  friends   soon   gathered   courage   to 
assert  his  right  to  the  throne.     The  unhappy  prince  was 
secretly  murdered   the  year  after  his  deposition,  but  his 
partisans  would  not  believe  he  was  dead.     Rumors  that 
Richard  was  alive,  that  he  had  been  seen  in  Scotland,  that 
he  was  rallying  his  forces  at  Chester,  were  rife  in  the  land. 
A  pretender  found  eager  champions  at  the  Scottish  court, 
where  Henry's  reassertion  of  overlordship  had  revived  all 
the  old  hostility  to  England,     The  traditional  feud  found  Border  raids 
vent  in  a  series  of  Border  raids  which  came  to  nothing,  but 
the  English  had  the  good  fortune  to  get  possession  of  young 


1 90 


Dynastic    Wars 


Traill,  II, 
282-287. 

Glendower's 
rebellion. 


Prince  James,  the  heir-apparent  (1405),  and  kept  him  twenty 
years  a  prisoner  as  hostage  for  the  good  behavior  of  the 
Scots. 

The  weakness  of  Henry's  administration  and  the  conse- 
quent misrule  of  the  Lord  Marchers  occasioned  revolt  in  the 
west.  Under  Owen  Glendower,  a  patriotic  gentleman  and 
a  former  squire  of  Richard,  the  Welsh  maintained  for  fif- 
teen years  (1400-1415)  a  practical  independence.  In 
1403,  the  Percies,  whose  allegiance  the  king  had  thought 
secure,  proclaimed  Mortimer,  Earl  of  March,^  rightful  heir 
to  the  throne.  Northumberland  rose  at  their  call,  the  in- 
surgent Welsh  and  Scotch  joined  forces  with  them,  and 
though  young  Hotspur  fell  in  battle,  and  his  fellow-con- 
spirator, Scrope,  Archbishop  of  York,  was  beheaded  by 
order  of  the  king's  justices,  it  was  years  before  the  revolt 
could  be  suppressed.     Across  the  Channel,  too,  the  foes  of 


1  The  rival  dynasties  :  — 


Edward  III 


Clarence 


Gaunt 


By  Bl  mche  of  Lancaster, 

I 

Henry  IV, 

1399-1413 

Philippa 

Henry  V, 
1413-1422 

Henry  VI, 
1422-1471 

Edward, 

slain  at 

Tewkesbury, 

1471 


By  Katherine  Swynford 
(illegitimate) 

I 

John  Beaufort, 

Earl  of  Somerset 

II 

John  Beaufort, 

Duke  of  Somerset 

P 
Margaret  Beaufort, 
m.  Edmund  Tudor, 
Earl  of  Richmond 

I 
Henry  VII, 

1485-1509 


Edmund  Mortimer, 

Earl  of  March, 

died,  1424 


Anne  Mortimer 


Edward  IV, 
1461-1483 


Elizabeth, 
m.  Henry  VII 


I 1 

Edward  V,  Richard 

murdered, 

1483 


George, 

Duke  of  Clarence, 

murdered,  1478 


Edward, 

Earl  of  Warwick, 

beheaded, 1499 


Margaret, 
beheaded. 


York 


Kichard, 

Earl  of  Cambridge, 

m.  Anne  Mortimer, 

beheaded, 1415 

I 

Richard. 

Duke  of  York, 

slain  at 
Wakefield,  1460 


1 

Richard  HI,  Duke 

of  Gloucester, 

1483-1485, 

slain  at 

Bosworth, 

1485 

I 

Edward,  died. 


The  French  War 


191 


England  were  astir.  The  king  of  France,  whose  daughter 
was  Richard's  queen,  protested  against  Henry's  usurpation, 
and  sent  aid  to  the  Welsh  insurgents.  The  Gascon  cities 
that  had  remained  loyal  to  the  English  mistrusted  the  new 
dynasty  and  lent  ear  to  overtures  from  France. 

One  by  one  all  dangers  were  averted,  all  enemies  out- 
witted, reconciled,  or  destroyed,  and  the  realm  won  over 
to  the  house  of  Lancaster,  But  the  task  wore  out  the  king's 
life.  Haunted  by  secret  doubts  as  to  his  right  to  the  crown, 
weighed  down  by  a  disease  which  his  superstitious  con- 
temporaries believed  to  be  the  judgment  of  God,  he  grew 
jealous  and  suspicious,  fearing  to  be  displaced  in  his  turn 
by  the  popular  heir-apparent.  "  He  reigned  thirteen  years," 
says  Holinshed,  "with  great  perplexity  and  little  pleasure," 
but  he  left  a  well-founded  inheritance  to  his  son. 

Henry  V  (1413-1422). — The  second  Lancaster  was  a 
man  of  different  temper.  Able,  upright,  and  generous,  a 
brilliant  warrior  and  a  popular  ruler,  he  was  the  best  king 
of  his  line.  Prince  Hal,  the  gay  and  mischievous  youth 
whom  Shakespeare  depicts  as  Falstaff's  boon  companion, 
was  suddenly  sobered  by  the  responsibility  of  kingship. 
"He  was  changed  into  another  man,"  says  Walsingham, 
"studying  to  be  honest,  grave,  and  modest."  Disturbing 
questions  as  to  dynastic  right  died  into  silence  before  the 
popularity  of  the  brave,  self-confident  young  king.  The 
Earl  of  March  was  received  into  royal  favor,  and  the  con- 
spiracy undertaken  in  his  name  by  his  brother-in-law,  the 
Earl  of  Cambridge,  was  readily  brought  to  naught. 

The  king's  championship  of  orthodoxy  doubtless  added 
greatly  to  the  security  of  his  administration.     The  statute 
against  heretics  was  reenacted  in  1414,  and  a  formidable   Traill,  II, 
rising  under  Sir  John  Oldcastle  was  quashed  by  Henry's   293. 
prompt  interference.     The  leaders  were  put  to  death  and 
the  movement  so  discredited   that  Lollardry  never  again    Lollard  plot 
figured  as  a  menace  to  the  established  order.     Religious 
discontent  smouldered  in  secret  until  the  Reformation. 

The  French  "War.  —  The  renewal  of  the  French  war  was 


BORMAY  it  C0,(EN6fl'8jN.1 


TJie  French  War 


193 


another  popular  measure.  Henry's  claim  to  the  French 
throne  was  slighter  than  that  of  Edward  III  and  had  even 
less  chance  of  success;  but  its  assertion  was  eagerly  ap- 
plauded by  Englishmen  of  the  day.  The  war  with  France 
had  become  a  national  feud  that  must  be  prosecuted  with- 
out regard  to  consequences.  The  barons  welcomed  the 
opportunity  to  win  fame  and  plunder,  while  the  clergy  were 
glad  to  divert  attention  from  a  second  proposal  to  confiscate 
ecclesiastical  revenues  by  voting  taxes  for  the  French  cam- 
paigns. The  war,  so  cordially  undertaken,  was  carried  to 
a  brilliant  conclusion.  The  battle  of  Agincourt  (1415) 
was  a  repetition  of  Crecy.  Once  again  English  yeomen 
overthrew  the  mailed  knights  of  the  French  array  with  well- 
directed  shots  from  their  long-bows,  and  once  again  the 
English  army,  invincible  in  battle,  was  destroyed  by  famine 
and  disease.  Good  fortune,  rather  than  valor,  gave  Henry 
the  ultimate  victory.  France  was  demoralized  by  civil 
strife.  The  king,  Charles  VI,  was  imbecile,  and  the  king- 
dom was  divided  between  hostile  factions.  The  cities  were 
reduced  to  anarchic  misrule,  while  the  country  lay  waste 
and  desolate.  A  land  so  distraught  was  not  difficult  to 
bring  to  terms.  In  1420  the  treaty  of  Troyes  was  concluded. 
Princess  Catherine  was  given  to  the  king  in  marriage,  the 
rights  of  the  Dauphin  were  set  aside,  and  it  was  agreed 
that  Henry  was  to  succeed  to  the  throne  on  the  death  of 
Charles  VI. 

The  next  year  the  king  came  home,  accompanied  by  his 
fair  French  bride.  He  was  joyfully  greeted  by  a  people 
intoxicated  with  triumph,  but  a  sinister  fate  awaited  him. 
Returning  to  France  the  same  year  to  pursue  the  conquest  of 
the  south,  he  fell  ill  and  died  only  two  months  before  the 
mad  monarch  whose  crown  he  expected  to  inherit.  Henry  V 
had  dreamed  of  reducing  his  French  dominions,  not  merely 
to  submission,  but  to  order  and  renewed  prosperity,  of  car- 
rying the  terror  of  the  English  name  to  the  far  East,  of 
conquering  the  Turks  and  restoring  the  Holy  Sepulchre  to 
Christian  keeping;   but   all   these  great  projects   came  to 


Green, 

pp.  267-27Q 


Agincourt, 

1415- 
Traill,  II, 
321-329. 


Treaty  of 

Troyes, 

1420. 


Traill,  II, 
296,  297. 


194 


Dynastic    Wars 


nothing,    for   the   king  was  cut  off    in   the   first   flush  of 
success  before  his  initial  conquests  could  be  secured. 

Henry  VI  (1422-1471).  —  England  was  undone  by  his 
death.  The  Prince  of  Wales  was  but  nine  months  old, 
and  the  realm  was  exposed  to  all  the  difficulties  and  dangers 
of  a  long  minority.  Parliament  vested  sovereign  authority 
in  a  council  of  regency,  appointing  the  late  king's  brothers, 
the  Dukes  of  Bedford  and  Gloucester,  to  the  government 


LuDT-ow  Castlk 


of  France  and  England  respectively.  Humphrey,  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  was  a  vain,  ambitious  prince  who  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  sacrifice  the  peace  of  the  country  to  his  own  ad- 
vancement. He  was  soon  engaged  in  a  fierce  quarrel  with 
Bishop  Beaufort,  the  chancellor  and  his  rival  in  the  gov- 
ernment. The  feud,  ceasing  only  with  the  death  of  the 
principals,  occupied  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  this  un- 


Loss  of  the  French  Possessions 


195 


happy  reign,  and  involved  the  council,  the  court,  and 
ultimately  the  dynasty  in  its  fatal  toils. 

Loss  of  the  French  Possessions.  —  Meanwhile,  Bedford 
was  spending  his  splendid  energy  and  sorely  needed  wis- 
dom in  the  vain  endeavor  to  retain  the  French  conquests. 
The  fortunes  of  France  had  touched  lowest  ebb  in  the  treaty 
of  Troyes.  With  the  death  of  the  mad  king,  courage  re- 
vived, and  loyal  Frenchmen  turned  to  the  Dauphin  as  the 
hope  of  the  nation.  Awakened  patriotism  found  expression 
in  the  self -forgetting  zeal  of  Joan  of  Arc,  the  peasant  girl 
of  Domremi,  who  believed  herself  sent  by  God  to  restore 
the  rightful  king  and  inspired  the  dejected  forces  of  the 
Dauphin  with  such  enthusiasm  as  enabled  them  once  more 
to  win  victories  from  the  English.  A  besieging  force  was 
driven  back  from  Orleans,  the  strong  city  of  the  loyal 
south;  the  Dauphin  was  carried  to  Rheims,  and  there 
triumphantly  crowned  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country, 
while  one  after  another  the  fortified  cities  were  recovered 
from  the  English  garrisons.  Not  even  the  capture  and 
barbarous  execution  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans  could  daunt 
the  waxing  courage  of  the  French,  while  the  death  of  the 
Duke  of  Bedford  removed  the  single  element  of  strength 
in  the  English  army.  Paris  was  lost  in  1436,  and  Eng- 
land's possessions  in  France  rapidly  narrowed  down  to  the 
dominions  of  Henry  II. 

At  home,  meanwhile,  matters  were  going  badly.  The 
little  king,  a  delicate  but  precocious  child,  was  being  care- 
fully educated,  and  he  showed  himself  an  apt  and  submis- 
sive pupil.  In  happier  times  he  might  have  become  a 
good,  even  a  great,  sovereign;  but  the  storm  and  stress  of 
civil  strife  forced  upon  him  responsibilities  far  beyond  his 
strength.  He  was  crowned  king  of  England  when  only 
seven  years  of  age,  and  king  of  France  at  ten.  Again  and 
again,  while  still  a  mere  child,  he  was  called  upon  to  medi- 
ate between  the  great  barons  of  the  council.  The  death 
of  Bedford  bereft  him  of  his  only  wise  and  disinterested 
minister.     The  fragile  body  and  overwrought  brain  of  the 


Joan  of  Arc. 

Green, 

pp.  274-281. 


Traill,  II, 
297-304. 

Source-Book, 
pp.  112,  113. 

Character  of 
Henry  VI. 

Source-Book, 
pp.  114-116. 


196 


Dynastic  Wars 


Green, 
p.  280. 


boy  king  broke  under  the  strain.  He  was  still  a  young 
man  when  the  curse  of  his  house  fell  upon  him  and  he  be- 
came hopelessly  incompetent.    Pitiable  was  the  condition  of 

the     kingdom.       The 


u\   '  ''\   ,    M 

111  '",1,1 


people  groaned  under 
the  burden  of  taxes 
imposed  for  the  prose- 
cution of  the  French 
war.  The  heavy  drafts 
required  to  fill  up  the 
ranks  of  the  depleted 
army,  coupled  with 
frequent  recurrences 
of  the  plague,  had 
sensibly  reduced  the 
population.  The 
strength  of  the  nation 
was  nearly  exhausted, 
and  yet  Parliament  was 
unwilling  to  treat  for 
peace.  Race  pride 
revolted  against  a  hu- 
miliating conclusion 
to  the  war  so  brilliantly  begun,  but  the  counsellors  of  the 
king,  seeing  that  failure  was  inevitable,  negotiated  a  truce. 
A  marriage  was  arranged  between  the  young  king  and  a 
French  princess,  Margaret  of  Anjou,  while  Maine  and  An- 
jou  were  ceded  (1448)  as  the  price  of  peace.  Normandy 
was  lost  in  1450,  and  the  coast  cities,  Bordeaux  and  Ba- 
yonne,  in  145 1.  The  remnant  of  Gascony  thus  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  French  king,  and  Calais  alone  remained 
to  England. 

Dynastic  Difficulties.  —  With  the  close  of  the-war,  a  crowd 
of  disappointed  knights  and  ragged  soldiers  returned  from 
over-seas,  seeking  to  better  their  desperate  fortunes.  They 
found  the  country  well-nigh  ruined,  the  king  impotent,  the 
queen  generally  hated  because  of  the  humiliating  marriage 


Henry  VI 

After  the  portrait  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery 


Dynastic  Difficulties 


197 


treaty,  and  the  princes  of  the  blood  royal  engaged  in  a 
desperate  struggle  for  the  control  of  the  government.     Ed- 
mund Beaufort,  Duke  of  Somerset,  head  of  the  illegitimate   Green, 
branch  of  the  Lancastrian  house,  had  the  confidence  of  the   ^^'  ^^^^^^S- 
court  and  the  queen;  but  he  was  unpopular  with  the  people, 


\  '  ll!H  .    IIHJII 


Suit  of  Full  Armor.    Middle  of  Fifteenth  Century 


and  was  charged  with  every  disaster  at  home  and  abroad. 
His  rival,  Richard  of  York,  had,  on  the  contrary,  proved  Richard  of 
himself  an  able  ruler,  both  in  France  and  in  Ireland.     He  ^°^^- 
was  uot  only  heir-apparent  to  the  childless  king,  but,  being 


198 


Dynastic    Wars 


Cade's 
Revolt. 

Green, 

pp.  281,  282. 


Birth  of 

Prince 

Edward. 


Source-Book, 
pp.  118-120. 


Traill,  II, 
313.  314- 


descended  through  his  mother,  Anne  Mortimer,  from  Lionel,  ■ 
Duke  of  Clarence,  elder  brother  to  John  of  Gaunt,  he  might 
advance  a  better  claim  to  the  throne  than  the  reigning 
house.  Distrusted  by  the  queen's  party  and  driven  from 
court,  his  name  was  caught  up  by  the  malcontents  as  the 
guarantee  of  efificient  government.  Jack  Cade,  who  incited 
the  fruitless  peasant  insurrection  in  1450,  assumed  the  name 
of  Mortimer.  The  "Complaint  of  the  Commons  of  Kent" 
protested  against  the  misgovernment  of  unworthy  favorites, 
and  demanded  that  the  king  recall  to  court  "that  high  and 
mighty  prince,  the  Duke  of  York."  The  Kentish  rising, 
far  from  inducing  the  king  to  summon  York  to  his  council, 
only  heightened  the  antagonism  between  that  great  lord 
and  the  court  party. 

The  "Wars  of  the  Roses. ^  —  In  1453,  Henry  fell  into  a 
state  of  imbecility  which  endured,  with  brief  intervals  of 
sanity,  through  the  remaining  eighteen  years  of  his  life. 
The  birth  of  Prince  Edward  in  the  same  year  gave  an  heir 
to  the  house  of  Lancaster.  Relying  on  the  support  of 
powerful  barons,  notably  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  York  laid 
claim  to  the  protectorate,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  maintain 
his  right  by  force.  Somerset  was  slain  at  St.  Albans  (1455), 
and  Queen  Margaret  was  left  alone  to  defend  the  interests 
of  her  feeble  husband  and  infant  son.  The  queen  was 
justly  unpopular,  since  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  she 
was  soliciting  aid  from  France  and  Scotland  against  her 
English  foes;  nevertheless,  she  could  count  on  the  loyalty 
of  the  north  and  west.  The  Yorkist  cause,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  maintained  in  London  and  the  rich  and  populous 
southeastern  counties,  whose  commercial  and  industrial  in- 
terests were  dependent  on  efificient  government.  In  1459, 
the  dynastic  controversy  so  long  smouldering  broke  into 
flame.  Parliament,  acting  under  the  influence  of  the 
queen,  attainted  York  and  his  principal  supporters.  They 
armed  in  self-defence,  and  the  land  was  given  over  to  civil 
war.     Victory  was  at  first  with  the  Duke  of  York.     At  the 


1  The  Lancastrians  wore  the  red  rose,  the  Yorkists  the  wliite. 


\.>»v# 


4  West  3      Lonptude         2  from  1        Greenwich      0  East  1 


BOHMAY  &  CO.,ENGR'S,H.V. 


200 


Dynastic    Wars 


Wakefield, 
1460. 

Traill,  II, 
333- 


Towton, 
1461. 

Source-Book, 
pp.  121-125. 


battle  of  Northampton  (1460)  Henry  VI  was  taken  prisoner 
and  York  laid  claim  to  the  crown.  A  compromise  was 
effected  by  the  advocates  of  peace;  Richard  was  to  succeed 
Henry  VI,  the  claim  of  Prince  Edward  being  set  aside. 

Queen  Margaret,  however,  rejected  the  arrangement  and 
fought  like  a  lioness  for  the  rights  of  her  son.  Richard  fell 
at  Wakefield,  but  his  heir,  young  Edward  of  York,  proved 
an  even  stronger  leader.  Getting  possession  of  London  by 
a  swift  and  unexpected  advance,  he  was  proclaimed  king 
by  the  citizens  and  crowned,  before  the  sanction  of  Parlia- 
ment was  obtained,  by  a  group  of  partisan  lords.  The 
bloody  battle  of  Towton  Field  (146 1)  wrecked  the  hopes 
of  the  Lancastrians.  The  leading  men  of  the  party  were 
slain,  and  the  fierce  queen  was  forced  to  flee  to  Scotland, 
carrying  with  her  the  husband  and  son  for  whom  she 
waged  this  desperate  contest.  Thus  was  the  work  of 
1399  undone,  and  the  act  of  deposition  reversed.  The 
coronation  of  Edward  IV  was  a  reassertion  of  hereditary 
right. 

"Warwick,  the  King-maker. — The  cause  of  the  White 
Rose  had  been  stanchly  maintained  by  Richard  Neville, 
Earl  of  Warwick,  near  kinsman  to  the  house  of  York,  and 
the  most  powerful  lord  in  England.  He  held  great  estates 
in  the  midland  counties  and  could  gather  an  army  of  trusty 
vassals  under  his  banner,  the  ragged  staff.  He  was  further 
so  connected  by  blood  and  marriage  with  other  great  fami- 
lies that  he  could  count  on  the  support  of  the  major  part 
of  the  English  nobility.  It  was  said  that  half  England 
would  rise  at  his  word.  An  able  politician,  a  man  of 
genial  manners  and  wide  sympathies,  he  won  the  steadfast 
confidence  of  the  people.  "  He  ever  had  the  good  voice 
of  the  people,"  says  the  chronicler,  "because  he  gave  them 
fair  words,  showing  himself  easy  and  familiar."  He,  far 
more  than  the  Duke  of  York,  fought  in  the  interest  of  good 
government,  and  the  victory  of  the  White  Rose  was  due  in 
great  part  to  the  confidence  he  inspired.  After  the  crown 
was  won  and  Edward  IV  established  at  Westminster,  War- 


Edward  IV 


201 


wick  was  sent  to  guard  the  north  country  against  the  raids 
undertaken  by  Margaret  and  the  Scots.  It  was  no  easy 
task.  The  indomitable  queen  stirred  the  discontent  of 
Northumberland  to  revolt,  and  rising  after  rising  was  at- 
tempted, taxing  the  skill  of  Warwick  to  the  utmost. 

Edward  IV  (1461-1483).  — Meanwhile  King  Edward  at 
London  was  pursuing  his  own  pleasure  as  gayly  as  if  his 
tenure  of  the  throne  was  unchallenged.  In  1464  he  mar- 
ried Lady  Grey,  rejecting  the  high-born  brides  proposed 
by  Warwick,  and  proceeded  to  bestow  titles  and  ofifices 
upon  her  numerous  relatives,  the  Woodvilles,  with  slight 
regard  to  the  advice  of  his  former  counsellors.  This  in- 
difference gave  umbrage  to  his  supporters.  The  great 
lords  who  had  fought  his  battles  expected  some  reward. 
The  people  found  the  requisitions  of  the  spendthrift  king 
excessive,  and  murmured  that  Lancastrian  feebleness  "was 
no  worse  than  the  reckless  misrule  of  a  York."  The  re- 
bellious commons  of  Yorkshire,  led  by  Robin  of  Redesdale, 
protested  against  burdensome  taxation,  the  alienation  of 
the  royal  estates  to  upstart  favorites,  and  the  exclusion  from 
the  king's  council  of  the  princes  of  the  blood.  Warwick 
began  to  repent  him  of  his  work  and  to  plot  with  Margaret 
for  the  restoration  of  Henry.  It  required  but  the  weight 
of  his  influence  on  the  Lancastrian  side  to  turn  the  tables. 
A  sharp  reversal  of  fortune  drove  the  over-confident  Edward 
beyond  seas  and  placed  Henry  VI  on  the  throne.  For  five 
months  the  frail  old  man  held  the  sceptre  in  his  feeble 
grasp.  He  was  but  a  shadow  king;  the  real  sovereign  was 
the  great  Earl  of  Warwick.  In  the  spring  of  147 1,  Edward 
returned  to  England,  protesting  that  he  had  come  in  all 
loyalty  to  King  Henry,  to  recover  but  his  ancestral  estates. 
Encountering  no  resistance  from  the  apathetic  people,  he 
gathered  courage  and  claimed  the  throne.  His  brilliant 
generalship  stood  him  in  good  stead.  In  the  battle  of 
Barnet,  April  14,  Warwick  was  slain.  At  Tewkesbury, 
May  4,  Prince  Edward,  the  hope  of  the  Lancastrians, 
fell.     Margaret  was  taken  prisoner,  and  the  frail  old  king. 


Green, 
pp.  285-2S 


Traill,  II, 

315- 


Alliance  of 
Warwick 
and 
Margaret. 


Source-Book 
pp.  125-128. 


Bamet, 

Tewksbury 

1471. 


202 


Dynastic   Wars 


Traill,  II, 
309-311. 


Green, 

pp.  288-293. 


consigned  to  the  Tower,  died  on  the  night  of  Edward's 
triumphant  return  to  London. 

Political  Results. — The  house  of  Lancaster  was  finally 
ruined.  Twenty  years  of  civil  strife  had  resulted  in  the 
triumph  of  the  rival  dynasty.  It  was  not  a  constitutional 
struggle,  like  that  led  by  Simon  de  Montfort,  by  Thomas 
of  Lancaster,  by  the  Lords  Appellant.  Henry  IV  and  his 
successors  had  been  most  scrupulously  observant  of  every 
parliamentary  form.  They  had  neither  attempted  arbitrary 
rule  nor  sought  to  enrich  themselves  and  their  favorites  at 
the  expense  of  th^  common  weal.  Their  failure  was  in 
"want  of  governance."  The  dynasty  had  not  struck  deep 
root  in  the  loyalty  of  the  nation  because  it  had  furnished 
no  able  administrator.  In  the  anarchy  of  the  times  Eng- 
land needed  above  all  things  a  strong  and  efficient  govern- 
ment which  should  protect  the  weak  and  restore  order  to 
the  disorganized  State. 

The  house  of  York  did  not  meet  this  need.  The  govern- 
ment of  Edward  IV  was  arbitrary  rather  than  strong.  Since 
John,  no  king  had  sat  on  the  English  throne  so  abandoned 
to  vicious  pleasure,  so  lacking  in  the  sense  of  responsibility 
for  his  people.  Edward  had  a  conspicuous  talent  for  ex- 
tortion, and  money  was  wrung  from  his  helpless  subjects 
by  new  and  ingenious  devices.  Heavy  fines  were  imposed 
for  fictitious  offences,  and  "benevolences"  were  demanded 
on  such  terms  as  made  this  form  of  contribution  to  the 
king's  necessities  even  more  vexatious  than  the  forced  loans 
of  Richard  II.  No  class  escaped  the  royal  exactions. 
"The  rich,"  says  a  contemporary,  "were  hanged  by  the 
purse  and  the  poor  by  the  neck."  Parliament  was  sum- 
moned at  rare  intervals,  and  its  principal  business  was  the 
voting  of  forfeitures  and  bills  of  attainder  against  the  Lan- 
castrian lords.     No  reform  legislation  was  attempted. 

Richard  III  (1483-1485).  —  Edward's  sudden  death  (1483) 
left  the  succession  ill  defended.  His  son,  Prince  Edward, 
was  but  thirteen  years  of  age.  The  young  king's  uncle, 
Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  deformed  of  body,  brilliant 


Richard  111 
After  a  Painting  in  Windsor  Castle 


State  of  the  Country 


203 


of  intellect,  and  of  all  the  house  of  York  most  cruel  and 
selfish,  the  man  to  whom  tradition  attributes  the  worst  crimes 
of  this  brutal  age,  had  enjoyed  the  full  trust  of  the  late  king. 
No  sooner  was  Edward  dead  than  Richard  began  to  con- 
spire for  the  throne.  The  Woodvilles  were  driven  from 
court,  some  iato  exile,  some  to  the  block,  and  Gloucester 
was  elected  protector  of  the  realm.  The  wily  duke  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  his  young  nephew,  but  before 
Edward  could  be  crowned,  his  right  was  set  aside  and 
Richard  was  invited  by  a  partisan  gathering  of  lords  and 
clergy,  acting  in  the  name  of  the  three  estates,  to  assume 
the  crown.  The  boy  king  and  his  little  brother  were 
probably  murdered  in  the  Tower. 

Richard  III  was  a  man  of  sinister  genius  —  the  least 
scrupulous  of  his  unscrupulous  race.  The  single  Parliament 
of  his  reign  passed  a  series  of  remedial  statutes,  and  these 
have  been  cited  as  evidence  that  the  last  York  was  maligned 
by  his  successors  —  that  the  real  man  might  have  become  a 
great  sovereign.  Since,  however,  the  king  did  not  hesitate 
to  set  at  naught  the  most  important  of  these  statutes,  —  that 
declaring  benevolences  illegal,  —  he  can  hardly  be  regarded 
as  the  author  of  the  reform  movement.  The  two  years  of 
his  reign  were  spent  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  defeat  a  rival 
to  the  succession,  Henry  Tudor,  Earl  of  Richmond,  the 
last  surviving  heir  of  the  house  of  Lancaster.  At  the 
decisive  battle  of  Bosworth  Field  (1485),  Richard  was  slain, 
and  Henry  was  proclaimed  king. 

State  of  the  Country.  —  The  misery  of  the  people  during 
these  years  of  civil  strife  was  such  as  England  had  not 
known  since  the  evil  days  of  Stephen.  The  land  was  laid 
waste  by  rival  armies  in  pursuit  of  plunder  or  revenge. 
Crops  were  destroyed  and  cattle  driven  off,  the  very  huts  of 
the  peasants  were  torn  down  and  their  owners  left  to  naked 
beggary.  Villages  and  towns  were  sacked  and  burned  to 
the  ground,  and  prosperous  districts  were  reduced  to  smok- 
ing ruins.  More  men  died  of  want  than  were  slain  in 
battle,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  country  the  fields  lay  un- 


Green, 

p.  299. 


Traill,  II, 
318-320. 


Horace  Wal- 
pole,  Historic 
Doubts. 


Green, 

pp.  313,  314. 

Bosworth, 
1485. 


Traill,  II, 
3".  312. 


204  Dynastic    Wars 

tilled.  The  price  of  wheat  fluctuated  with  every  harvest, 
but  again  and  again  during  the  century  it  rose  to  famine 
rates.  Pestilence  followed  close  upon  famine.  The  chroni- 
clers record  some  twenty  outbreaks  of  "  the  Death,"  with 
hardly  a  space  of  five  years  free.  Not  only  was  the  growth 
of  population  checked,  but  the  number  of  souls  actually 
fell  below  what  it  was  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Suffering 
and  the  failure  of  accustomed  restraints  demoralized  the 
nation.  Loyalty,  honor,  all  sense  of  obligation,  weakened 
in  this  age  of  social  disintegration.  Treachery,  breach  of 
faith,  barbarous  cruelty,  characterized  the  party  leaders. 
Their  followers,  not  slow  to  imitate  the  evil  example,  robbed 
and  murdered  in  their  turn. 

The  Privileged  Orders. — The  Church  had  well-nigh  lost 
its  influence  for  good.  Their  privileges  once  rendered 
secure  by  the  suppression  of  the  Lollards,  the  clergy  felt 
little  concern  for  the  well-being  of  the  people.  Many  prel- 
ates, younger  sons  of  baronial  families,  took  an  active  part 
in  the  civil  strife,  and  proved  themselves  only  a  shade  less 
faithless  than  their  non -tonsured  allies.  For  example, 
George  Neville,  Archbishop  of  York,  betrayed  London  to 
King  Edward   (147 1)  as  the  price  of  his  personal  safety. 

The  aristocracy  was  decimated  in  the  course  of  the 
Traill,  II,  dynastic  struggle.^  Many  old  houses  were  extinguished, 
329-332.  ^jj  ^.j^g  n\tn  of  the  family  having  fallen  in  battle.     Many 

more  were  impoverished.  The  wasteful  expenses  entailed 
in  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  of  public  and  private  war, 
and  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  splendid  establishments  re- 
quired by  the  fashion  of  the  times,  were  a  heavy  charge, 
while  the  returns  from  landed  property  were  diminishing. 

Wealth  and  influence  were  centred  in  a  few  great  families. 
There  were  half  a  dozen  peers  whose  power  rivalled  that  of 
royalty  itself.  The  Earl  of  Warwick  boasted  so  large  a  fol- 
lowing that  six  oxen  were  daily  slaughtered  to  provide  his 

1  The  loss  of  life  was  heaviest  among  the  nobility.  At  the  battle  of  North- 
ampton, Warwick  gave  orders  that  none  should  slay  the  commoners,  but  only 
the  lords,  with  whom  lay  the  responsibility  for  the  war. 


The  Baronage 


205 


breakfast  table.  The  Duke  of  Buckingham's  rental  was  es- 
tniiated  at  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  pounds,  in 
money  of  to-day,  while  in  his  great  hall  of  Thornbury  two 
hundred  guests  partook  of  his  bounty.  The  Earl  of  Berke- 
ley was  accompanied  on  his  journeys  by  a  retinue  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  retainers  dressed  in  his  livery.  A  baron's 
strength  was  measured  by  the  number  of  followers  he  could 


Traill,  11. 

329-334- 


Raglan  Castle 

From  a  photograph 


maintain.  Such  attendants  were  fed  and  clothed,  armed 
and  mounted,  by  their  lord,  and  were  entitled  to  a  share  in 
the  booty  of  war.  In  return  for  such  "  Uvery,"  ^  the  man 
bound  himself  to  espouse  his  lord's  quarrels,  to  answer  his 
summons,  and  to  follow  him  to  battle,  at  home  or  abroad. 
It  was  just  such  a  relation  of  mutual  service  and  protection 
as  existed  between  the  Saxon  earl  and  his  thegn.     There 


Source-Book, 
pp.  117,  118. 


1  Livery  {liberafio)  was  originally  the  allowance  in  clothing  and  food 
provided  for  each  retainer. 


206  Dynastic    Wars 

was,  in  fact,  in  the  disorganized  state  of  society,  a  reversion 
to  feudalism.  Backed  by  their  armed  retainers,  powerful 
nobles  made  war  upon  each  other  in  pursuit  of  personal 
ends.  Fierce  feuds  and  private  broils  were  of  frequent  oc- 
currence. 

There  was  no  authority  strong  enough  to  cope  with  the 
turbulent  gentry.  Kings  were  but  their  creatures,  and 
the  courts  of  justice  could  not  withstand  their  influence, 
A  powerful  noble  had  only  to  appear  before  the  justice  with 
several  hundred  henchmen  at  his  back  to  secure  the  rever- 
sal of  an  unpalatable  sentence.  From  Edward  III  to  Henry 
VII  this  was  a  growing  evil.  No  less  than  twelve  statutes 
were  enacted  against  the  giving  of  liveries  and  the  mainte- 
nance^ of  false  quarrels  ;  but  legislation  could  effect  nothing 
when  there  was  no  strong  central  authority  to  put  the  law 
into  execution.  In  the  ignoble  strife  for  possession  of  the 
crown,  the  royal  authority  was  discredited.  The  institutions 
of  government,  local  as  well  as  central,  were  demoralized, 
and  the  kingdom  lapsed  into  anarchy.  Parliament,  for- 
merly the  stanch  defender  of  the  people's  liberties,  had 
degenerated  into  the  servile  tool  of  dynastic  faction.  By 
neglecting  to  summon  the  hostile  lords-  and  by  skilfully 
manipulating  county  elections,  the  party  in  power  could  at 
any  time  convene  an  assembly  that  would  ratify  its  measures 
of  attainder  and  restitution. 

The  People.  —  Bad  as  were  the  political  and  social  con- 
ditions of  the  age,  there  was  still  room  for  considerable 
industrial  progress.  The  citizens  of  the  towns  and  the  lesser 
folk  of  the  country  had  little  to  do  with  the  civil  wars.  Yeo- 
men and  all  below  the  rank  of  squire  were  forbidden  by  law 
to  don  a  livery  or  to  follow  a  lord  to  battle,  while  participa- 
tion in  the  county  elections  was  limited  to  persons  possessed 
of  land  worth  forty  shillings  a  year.^ 

1  "Maintenance"  was  the  support  given  by  lord  to  client  whether  in  a 
private  quarrel  or  in  the  courts  of  justice. 

2  But  twenty-nine  barons  were  summoned  to  the  first  Parliament  of 
Henry  VII. 

8  This  statute  was  enacted  in  1430  in  consequence  of  tumults  made  in  the 


The  People  207 

The  process  of  commuting  personal  for  money  service  was 
virtually  accomplished  in  the  course  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  the  major  part  of  the  former  serfs  became  copyhold  ten- 
ants. The  demesne  lands  were  rented  on  easy  terms  by  ne- 
cessitous lords  to  thrifty  yeomen  who  knew  how  to  lay  up 
money  in  spite  of  the  turbulent  times.  Such  a  man  is  de- 
scribed in  Latimer's  sermon  before  Edward  VI.  "  My  father  Traill,  il 
was  a  yeoman  and  had  no  lands  of  his  own,  only  he  had  a  3^^'  392- 
farm  of  three  or  four  hundred  pounds  (income)  by  year  at 
the  uttermost,  and  hereupon  he  tilled  so  much  as  kept  half  a 
dozen  men.  He  had  walk  for  a  hundred  sheep,  and  my 
mother  milked  thirty  kine.  ...  He  kept  me  to  school,  or 
else  I  had  not  been  able  to  preach  before  the  king's  majesty 
now.  He  married  my  sisters  with  five  pounds  apiece,  .  .  . 
He  kept  hospitality  for  his  poor  neighbors  and  some  alms 
he  gave  to  the  poor,  and  all  this  he  did  of  the  same  farm." 
Such  a  man,  too,  was  Clement  Paston,  the  founder  of  a  great 
Norfolk  family. 

The  fifteenth  century  has  been  called  "  the  golden  age  of   Traill,  ii, 
English  labor,"  and  it  is  true  that  the  period  is  marked  by  a  381-385.  394 
steady  rise  of  wages ;    but  prices  rose  no  less  steadily,  and  ^^  ' 
the  irregularity  of  employment  reduced  the  earning  power 
of  the  workman  to  the  cost  of  mere  subsistence.     The  re-   Statute  of 
vised  statute  of  laborers  empowered  justices  of  the   peace  Laborers, 
to  fix  the  rate  of  wages  and  forbade  the  laborers  to  move  ^^'^' 
about  in  search  of  better  pay.     Lamenting  the  degraded  lot 
of  the  farm  servants,  Sir  Thomas  More  says  :    "  The  state 
and  condition  of  the  laboring  beasts  may  seem  much  better 
and  wealthier ;    for  they  be  not  put  to  so  continual  labor, 
nor  their  living  is  not  much  worse,  yea  to  them  much  pleas- 
anter,  taking  no  thought  in  the  mean  season  for  the  time  to 
come.      But   these   seely  poor  wretches   be    presently  tor- 
mented with  barren  and  unfruitful  labor,  and  the  remem- 

county  courts,  "  by  great  attendance  of  people  of  small  substance  and  no 
value,  whereof  every  one  of  them  pretendeth  a  voice  equivalent  as  to  such 
elections,  with  the  most  worthy  knights  and  squires  resident."  — Preambls 
TO  Statute. 


208 


Dynastic  Wars 


brance  of  their  poor,  indigent,  and  beggarly  old  age  killeth 
them  up.  For  their  daily  wages  is  so  little  that  it  will  not 
suffice  for  the  same  day,  much  less  it  yieldeth  any  surplus 
that  may  daily  be  laid  up  for  the  relief  of  old  age."  The 
food  and  shelter  that  might  be  procured  with  these  meagre 
earnings  was  so  poor  and  unwholesome   that  the  laboring 


The  George  Inn,  Glastonbury 

After  a  painting  by  G.  Arnald 


Traill,  II, 
407-412. 


classes  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  Pestilence.     Leprosy,  typhoid, 
and  other  filth  diseases  ran  riot. 

The  citizens  of  the  towns  were  far  more  prosperous.  It 
was  the  policy  of  the  burgesses  to  shirk  all  responsibility  for 
the  dynastic  strife.  Neither  White  Rose  nor  Red  was  worth 
the  cost  of  a  siege,  and  the  city  gates  flew  open  to  the  first 


Intellectual  Decadence 


209 


comer.  The  wars,  foreign  and  domestic,  were  a  serious  in- 
terference to  commerce.  Pirates  infested  the  seas,  and  the 
ports  were  not  infrequently  burned  by  French  fleets  that 
scoured  the  coasts.  The  victory  of  York,  however,  afforded 
a  respite  during  which  trade  revived.  Edward  IV,  who 
earned  the  title  of  "  Merchant  Prince "  by  his  successful 
ventures,  did  much  to  restore  prosperity.  A  series  of  com-  Traill,  II, 
mercial  treaties  with  continental  powers  opened  new  avenues  404- 
of  trade  to  English  merchants,  while  a  strong  and  efficient 
navy  cleared  the  Channel  of  pirates.  A  famous  merchant 
of  the  day  was  Sir  Richard  Whittington,  who  amassed  a  for- 
tune in  foreign  trade,  built  hospitals  and  colleges,  loaned 
money  to  the  king,  and  four  times  fulfilled  the  prophecy 
rung  in  his  boyish  ears  by  London's  bells  —  "  Turn  again, 
Whittington,  Lord  ALiyor  of  London." 

Intellectual  Decadence.  —  The  fifteenth  century  produced 
no  statesmen  and  no  poets.     It  was  a  brutal  age,  in  which 
the  ideals  that  had  redeemed  mediaeval  society  —  patriotism, 
religion,  chivalry —  languished,  overborne  by  selfish  material- 
ism.    The  literary  impulse  of  the  fourteenth  century  was   Green, 
prematurely  checked.     The  ill-fated  Henry  VI  founded  the    PP-  294-298. 
grammar  school  of  Eton  and  built  King's  College  Chapel, 
Caxton   set  up  his  printing-press   at  Westminster,   in    the 
reign  of  Edward  IV ;  but  with  such  rare  exceptions,  the  age 
seems  intellectually  dead.     There  was  a  dearth  of  poetry  Traill,  ii, 
and  romance.     Even  the  chroniclers  give  evidence  of  the   376-380. 
general  mental   apathy.     Their   meagre    records   rival  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  in  dulness.     Yet,  though  the  times 
admitted  of  no  individual  eminence  in  culture  or  in  art,  the 
people  at  large  had  their  heart-stirring  ballads,  their  quaint  ^^o-^si^'  86 
religious  dramas,  played  in  the  city  streets  on  holy  days,  387.'^ 
and  craftsmen  wrought  new  beauty  into  church  and  gild-hall 
and  market-cross. 


2IO  Dynastic  Wars 

Important  Events 

Reign  of  Henry  IV,  1399-1413. 

Statute  for  the  burning  of  heretics,  1401. 
Revolt  of  the  Welsh,  1400-1415. 
Revolt  of  Northumberland,  1403-1408, 

Reign  of  Henry  V,  141 3-1 422 

Lollard  rising,  1414. 
French  wars,  141 5-1422. 

Battle  of  Agincourt,  1415. 

Treaty  of  Troyes,  1420. 

Reign  of  Henry  VI,  1422-1461  (dethroned)-i47i  (diec 

French  wars,  1422-1453. 

Siege  of  Orleans,  1429. 

Surrender  of  Maine  and  Anjou,  1445- 

Final  loss  of  French  provinces,  1453. 
Cade's  insurrection,  1450. 
Civil  War. 

Battle  of  St.  Albans,  1455. 

Battle  of  Towton,  1461. 

Battles  of  Barnet  and  Tewkesbury,  147E. 

Reign  of  Richard  III,  1483-1485. 
Battle  of  Bosworth  Field,  1485. 


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CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  TUDORS   AND   THE   REFORMATION 

Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 

Roper,  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  Afore. 

Cavendish,  Cardinal  IVolsey. 

Prothero,  Select  Statutes  and  Other  Documents. 

Adams  and  Stephens,  Select  Documents. 

Henderson,  Side-Lights  on  English  History. 

Pollard,  Tudor  Tracts. 

Rait,  Mary  Queeti  of  Scots. 

Special  Authorities 

Hallam,  Constitutional  History  of  England. 

Lingard,  History  of  England. 

Scotield,  A  Study  of  the  Court  of  the  Star  Chajiiber. 

Busch,  England  under  the  Tudors. 

Fisher,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  V. 

Innes,  England  under  the  Tudors. 

Hume  Brown,  History  of  Scotland. 

Einstein,  The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England. 

Merriman,  Life  and  Letters  of  Thomas  Cronrwcll. 

Gairdner,  Henry  VII. 

Hutton,  Sir  Thomas  More. 

Pollard,  Henry  VIII,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  VI. 

Gasquet, //t'wrj'  VIII  and  the  English  Monasteries. 

Emerton,  Desiderius  Erasmus. 

Stone,  Keign  of  Mary  the  First. 

Hume,  The  Great  Lord  Burleigh. 

Creighton,  Age  of  Elizabeth. 

Imaginative  Literature 

Scott,  Marmion. 

Shakespeare,  Henry  VIIT. 

Scott,  Kenilworth,  The  Monastery,  The  Abbot. 

Lawless,  With  Essex  in  Ireland. 

Tennyson,  Queen  Mary. 

212 


Henry    VII  2 1 3 

The  Age  of  Transition.  —  The  sixteenth  century  marks  the 
change  from  mediaeval  to  modern  society.  The  old  con- 
ception of  Christendom  as  a  great  commonwealth  ruled  by 
pope  and  emperor  disappeared  with  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  for  the  next  hundred  years  the  fortunes  of  Europe  were 
in  the  hand  of  two  strong  centralized  states,  —  France  and 
Spain.  The  sixteenth  century  saw  the  break-up  of  ecclesi- 
astical unity  with  the  revolt  of  half  the  Christian  world 
against  the  spiritual  dominion  of  the  I'ope.  Outside  the 
realm  of  politics  and  religion,  even  vaster  changes  were  tak- 
ing place.  To  the  material  world  of  the  fifteenth  century  a 
whole  continent  had  been  added,  and  the  Atlantic,  formerly 
a  boundary,  was  now  the  highway  between  the  Old  World 
and  the  New.  Between  the  beginning  and  the  close  of  the 
Tudor  period  Europe's  commercial  and  industrial  system 
underwent  a  transformation.  It  was  well  for  England  that 
her  fortunes  during  this  critical  age  were  in  the  hands  of 
strong,  able  rulers,  national  in  feeling  and  capable  of  giving 
the  country  "  good  governance." 

Henry  VII  (1485-1 509).— Henry  VII,  first  of  the  Tudor 
line,  came  to  the  throne  well  fitted  for  the  task  before  him. 
His  youth  had  been  spent  in  prison  or  in  exile,  and  disci-  Traill,  II, 
pline  had  taught  him  self-control  and  moderation.  To  441-452. 
stern  resolution  he  united  great  patience  and  the  tact  that 
marked  the  strongest  of  his  house.  His  tastes  were  literary 
and  artistic,  and  the  learned  men  of  his  time  were  his 
friends. 

Henry  had  little  chance  to  indulge  the  gentler  sides  of 
his  character,  for  his  reign  was  one  continuous  struggle  to 
make  secure  the  throne  which  treachery  had  given  him. 
On  Bosworth  Field  Lord  Stanley  placed  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land on  Henry's  head,  but  it  took  twenty  years  of  ceaseless 
effort  to  make  good  the  title.  As  the  last  representative 
of  the  Lancastrians  he  had  been  accepted  by  the  Red  Rose 
faction,  but  he  was  not  of  the  direct  line,  and  doubt  had 
been  cast  on  the  legitimacy  of  his  branch.  The  Yorkists, 
who  had  helped  him  overthrow  Richard,  had  been  won  to 


214  TJic   Tndors  and  the  Reformation 

Green,  his  support  only  by  his  promise  to  wed  the  Princess  Eliza- 

pp.  301-303.     -j^g^j^^  ^j^^  j^Q  sooner  had  they  placed  a  Tudor  on  the  throne 
Traiii,  II,        ^j^^^^  ^.j^gy  began  to  intrigue  against  him.     It  was  to  make 

492- 


Henry  VII 

From  an  original  picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery 

good  the  defects  in  his  hereditary  claims  that  Henry  caused 
Parliament  to  pass  an  act  vesting  in  him  and  his  heirs  the 
right  to  the  crown  of  England.     The  royal  revenues  were 


Yorkist  Risinsrs 


215 


utilized  to  maintain  a  considerable  body-guard  and  to 
provide  the  king's  army  with  cannon  and  ammunition. 
Henry  VII  possessed  the  only  artillery  within  the  four 
seas,  and  thus  held  an  enormous  advantage  over  his  op- 
ponents. 

The  king's  chief  security,  however,  lay  in  the  lack  of  a 
powerful  rival  and  in  the  political  exhaustion  of  the  coun- 
try. The  nobility,  diminished  in  wealth  and  prestige  and 
divided  among  themselves,  were  not  strong  enough  to  be 
formidable  alone,  the  Church,  alarmed  by  attacks  upon  its 
doctrine  and  its  property,  clung  to  the  throne  for  support,  Traill,  11, 
while  the  people,  weary  of  bloodshed  and  anarchy,  turned  452-463- 
from  war  to  trade  and  commerce  and  were  ready  to  give 
their  allegiance  to  any  ruler  who  would  establish  order  and 
maintain  peace. 

Yorkist  Risings.  —  During  the  first  fifteen  years  of 
Henry's  reign,  several  attempts  were  made  by  the  Yorkist 
party  to  overthrow  him.  Two  of  these  plots  were  espe- 
cially significant  of  the  lawless  and  reckless  conditions  that 
had  so  long  prevailed. 

In  1487  a  youth  presented  himself  in  Ireland  as  Edward, 
Earl  of  Warwick,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence.  In  reality, 
the  fellow's  name  was  Lambert  Simnel.  He  was  the  son  of 
an  Oxford  baker  and  had  been  trained  for  his  part  by  a 
Yorkist  priest.  The  real  Prince  Edward  was  a  prisoner  in 
the  Tower,  but  the  impostor  was  eagerly  accepted  by  the 
Irish  and  crowned  king  in  Dublin  Cathedral.  Moreover, 
he  received  the  support  of  the  Yorkist  leaders,  including 
Margaret,  Duchess  of  Burgundy  and  sister  of  Edward  IV. 
With  a  force  of  Irish  and  Germans,  Simnel  invaded  Lanca- 
shire, but  the  people  did  not  rise,  and  he  was  easily  defeated 
at  the  battle  of  Stoke,  and  taken  prisoner.  Henry,  with 
contemptuous  moderation,  spared  his  life,  but  made  him 
turnspit  in  the  royal  kitchen. 

Five  years  later  a  similar  attempt  was  made  to  usurp  the 
throne.  This  time  it  was  a  roving  trader  of  Tournay, 
Perkin  Warbeck  by  name,  who  landed   in  Cork,  and  was 


Bright,  II, 
358-362. 


Lambert 
Simnel. 


Perkin 
Warbeck. 


2i6  TJie   Til  dors  and  the  Reformation 


See  p.  203. 


Bright,  II, 
355-358. 


Court  of 
the  Star 
Chamber. 


believed  by  the  discontented  and  impressionable  Irish  to 
be  Richard,  the  younger  of  the  two  princes,  popularly  sup- 
posed to  iiave  been  murdered  in  the  Tower  by  Richard  III. 
Warbeck's  claims  were  made  formidable  by  the  support 
which  he  received  not  merely  from  the  heads  of  the  Yorkist 
party  but  from  foreign  rulers  hostile  to  Henry.  Margaret 
of  Burgundy  kept  him  for  two  and  a  half  years  at  her  court, 
perfecting  him  in  his  part.  James  IV  of  Scotland  recog- 
nized his  claims,  and  Flanders  and  France  gave  him  aid. 
But,  as  before,  England  refused  to  rise,  and  an  attempt  to 
invade  Cornwall  (1497)  ended  in  Warbeck's  capture  and 
imprisonment. 

Henry's  Home  Policy.  —  The  easy  suppression  of  the 
Yorkist  risings  was  largely  the  result  of  Henry's  wise  policy. 
In  many  ways  his  reign  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  continua- 
tion of  that  of  Edward  IV.  The  first  Tudor  like  the  last 
York  strove  to  establish  firm  government,  and  to  make 
himself  independent  of  Parliament.  To  secure  his  realm 
against  attack  from  abroad  was  the  object  that  controlled 
his  foreign  relations.  The  methods  of  the  two  rulers  were 
also  similar  ;  both  bore  heavily  upon  the  nobility  and  sought 
the  favor  of  the  industrial  classes,  and  both  strove  to  gain 
their  ends  by  diplomacy  rather  than  by  war. 

In  severe  measures  toward  the  nobility  Henry  was  sure 
of  popular  support.  Order  was  what  the  country  most 
needed,  and  in  the  way  of  restoration  of  order  stood  the 
barons,  with  the  traditions  and  habits  formed  by  a  genera- 
tion of  civil  war.  Henry  began  at  once  to  reduce  their 
power.  The  statutes  of  Maintenance  and  Livery  were  rigor- 
ously enforced,  and  every  violation  of  the  laws  was  punished 
with  crushing  fines.  To  remedy  the  weakness  of  the  ordinary 
courts  in  dealing  with  great  offenders,  Henry  established  in 
1487  a  new  tribunal,  that  could  be  neither  bribed  nor  bullied. 
The  Court  of  the  Star  Chamber,  as  the  new  court  was  called, 
because  it  met  in  a  room  in  Westminster  whose  roof  was 
decorated  in  a  pattern  of  stars,  was  made  up  of  certain 
members  of  the  Privy  Council  and  two  judges,  and  was  the 


Financial  217 

first  of  the  great  councils  through  which  Plenry  and  his  suc- 
cessors governed  the  kingdom.  Henry  also  diminished  the 
political  power  of  the  nobles  by  i)Iacing  the  administration 
largely  in  the  hands  of  churchmen  or  of  men  whom  he  him- 
self had  raised  to  eminence. 

While  thus  weakening  the  power  of  the  barons,  Henry 
strove  to  gain  the  support  of  the  lower  classes  by  encourag- 
ing trade  and  commerce  and  developing  the  resources  of 
the  kingdom.  He  was  quick  to  see  the  advantage  to  him- 
self and  to  the  country  in  the  presence  of  powerful  indus- 
trial interests,  which  would  balance  the  influence  of  the 
noble  class  and  would  increase  the  national  wealth. 

Financial  Measures.  —  Henry  realized  that  the  weakness 
of  the  crown  in  the  fifteenth  century  was  due  in  great  meas- 
ure to  the  poverty  of  the  treasury,  and  throughout  his  reign 
he  strove  to  make  good  the  lack.  As  representative  of  the 
united  Lancastrian  and  Yorkist  lines  he  inherited  the  pos- 
sessions of  both.  He  was  careful,  almost  parsimonious,  in 
his  expenditures.  The  few  wars  in  which  he  engaged  were 
made  to  pay  for  themselves.  Of  the  war  with  France,  Lord 
Bacon  declared  that  Henry  only  "  trafficked  with  that  war," 
and  made  a  double  profit,  "upon  his  subjects  for  the  war, 
and  upon  his  enemies  for  the  peace."  Henry,  in  fact,  wrung 
a  benevolence  from  the  people  by  declaring  war,  and  then 
forced  the  French  king  to  pay  him  a  large  sum  for  with- 
drawing from  it.  Every  rising,  too,  helped  to  fill  the  royal 
treasury.  Henry  had  little  of  that  thirst  for  blood  so 
marked  in  his  son,  and  he  was  ready  to  condone  even 
treason  for  money.  An  important  source  of  the  royal 
revenue  was  the  judicial  fines  which  were  imposed  for  in- 
fractions of  the  law.  In  the  latter  part  of  Henry's  reign, 
two  of  his  ministers,  Empson  and  Dudley,  made  themselves 
detested  by  their  extortions  in  such  matters.  Taxation,  Traiiy,  II, 
regular  and  irregular,  steadily  increased.  Henry  contrived  45o- 
to  raise  large  sums  of  money  in  unusual  ways,  through 
feudal  dues,  loans,  and  benevolences.  It  was  on  the  occa- 
sion of  raising  the  benevolence  of  149 1  that  the  instructions 


2l8 


The   Tudors  and  the  Refonnation 


to  the  commissioners  contained  the  famous  article  called 
Morton's  Fork.  According  to  Lord  Bacon,  Cardinal  Mor- 
ton, the  king's  chief  minister,  directed  the  commissioners 
"  that  if  they  met  any  that  were  sparing,  they  should  tell 
them  that  they  must  needs  have,  because  they  laid  up  ;  and 
if  they  were  spenders  they  must  needs  have,  because  it  was 


Thk  Chapel  of  Henry  VII,  Westminster 

Villars,  England 


seen  in  their  port  and  manner  of  living,  so  neither  kind 
came  amiss." 

As  a  result  of  careful  management  Henry  was  able  to 
dispense  with  Parliament  during  the  last  years  of  his  reign, 
and  yet  to  leave  behind  him  a  treasure  of  nearly  ^1,800,000, 
probably  equal  to  $100,000,000  to-day. 

The   Foreign    Policy.  —  Henry's    dealings   with    foreign 


He  my    VIII  219 

powers  were  characteristic  not  merely  of  his  preference  for   Bright.  11, 
peaceful  methods,  but  also  of  the  tendency  of  the  time  to   363.  364- 
substitute  diplomacy  for  war.     He  was  active  in  continental   Traill,  ii, 
affairs,  constantly  on  the  brink  of  war,  and  yet  never  seri-  448,  449. 
ously  fighting.     The    truth   was,    he   did    not    feel    himself 
sufficiently  secure  on  his  throne  to  risk  a  war. 

To  secure  England  against  attack,  and  to  strengthen 
his  position  abroad,  Henry  built  up  a  system  of  alliances. 
He  continued  the  traditional  policy  of  friendly  relations 
with  Spain  by  marrying  his  son  and  heir,  x'\rthur,  to 
Catherine  of  Aragon,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  of  Spain.  To  secure  the  northern  border  against 
the  Scots,  he  married  his  eldest  daughter,  Margaret,  to 
James  IV  of  Scotland.  With  Burgundy  he  established 
closer  commercial  relations.  By  this  threefold  alliance, 
as  the  king  himself  boasted,  England  was  surrounded 
with  a  wall  of  brass. 

Henry  VIII  (i  509-1 547).  —  In  1509  the  king  died. 
His  work  had  been  crowned  with  success.  The  spirit 
of  opposition  was  thoroughly  cowed  by  his  stern  though 
not  merciless  measures.  Constitutional  aspirations  were 
checked,  few  Parliaments  were  called,  and  the  personal 
rule  of  the  sovereign  had  replaced  the  old  limited  mon- 
archy. As  a  result  of  his  wise  and  cautious  policy,  Henry 
left  to  his  son  a  secure  throne,  a  full  treasury,  and  a  prosper- 
ous people.^ 

'  Henry  VII,  m.  Elizabeth  of  York 

I 


Arthur, 
d.  1502 

I.  James  IV    m.  Margaret,  m.  2.  Lord  Henry     Henry  VIII     Mary,  m.  i.  Louis  XII 
ofScotlaivl   I  I  Angus  m.  2.  IHikeof 

Suftblk 
James  V,  m.  Mary  of     Margaret 
I      Guise  I 

I  I 

Mary,  m.  2.  Darnley  Frances 

m.  I.  Francis  II      I  j 

of  France  1^ 

James  VI  of  Scotland  Lady  Jane  Grey,  m.  Guildford 

and  I  of  England  Dudley 


Hknry  VIII 

The  face  is  engraved  after  the  only  sketch  made  from  life  by  Holbein  (Pinako 
theke,  Munich),  the  body  from  Holbein's  painting  in  Windsor 


England  and  the  Nczv  Lea7'ning  221 

The  young  king  came  to  the  throne  with  none  of  the 
disadvantages  against  which  his  father  had  contended.  He 
was  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  good-hiunored,  frank,  fond  of 
popularity.  The  darker  sides  of  his  character  were  as  yet 
unrevealed,  and  he  was  greeted  with  dehght  by  the  nation 
weary  of  the  suspicious,  repressive  poHcy  of  the  preceding 
reign. 

The  Renaissance.  —  The  Renaissance,  the  great  intel- 
lectual movement  of  the  fifteenth  century,  was  the  result  of  Green, 
many  influences.  The  unknown  treasures  of  classic  learning  PP'  315-330. 
brought  by  Greek  scholars  escaping  from  Constantinople 
before  the  Turk,  the  stirring  discourses  of  Italian  and  Portu- 
guese mariners,  the  popularizing  of  books  by  means  of  the 
printing-press,  the  increased  intercourse  among  nations 
which  followed  upon  the  consoUdation  of  the  great  states  of 
France  and  Spain,  —  all  these  things  combined  to  bring 
about  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  awakening  of  western 
Europe. 

England  and  the  New  Learning.  —  During  the  civil  wars 
in  England  intellectual  interests  had  little  chance,  but  early 
in  the  sixteenth  century  the  new  learning  made  itself  felt. 
Although  the  English  Renaissance  received  its  impulse  from 
Italy,  it  at  once  assumed  a  character  of  its  own.  It  was  less 
concerned  with  culture  as  such,  it  was  more  moral  and  prac- 
tical. At  Oxford  a  remarkable  group  of  scholars  was 
gathered,  and  in  the  life  and  work  of  three  of  them,  Colet, 
Erasmus,  and  More,  the  diverse  aspects  of  the  new  learning 
found  expression. 

In  John  Colet,  preacher  and  teacher,  were  typified  the 
religious  and  intellectual  interests  of  the  movement.  Colet, 
as  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  and  royal  chaplain,  was  influential  in 
reforming  some  of  the  abuses  in  the  Church,  but  his  most 
enduring  achievement  was  the  founding  of  St.  Paul's 
School,  which  set  an  example  of  better  methods  and  a 
wider  range  of  studies  than  had  prevailed  in  the  old  monastic 
schools. 

Colet's  pupil,  Desiderius  Erasmus,  led  in  the  attack  upon 


222  TJie   Tndors  mid  the  Reformation 

the  ecclesiastical  conditions  of  the  time.  His  famous  work, 
The  Praise  of  Folly,  held  up  to  the  scorn  of  the  world  the 
ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  priesthood. 

In  Sir  Thomas  More  all  the  freshness  and  audacity 
of  the  new  movement  were  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
social  and  political  problems  of  the  day.  Utopia,  More's 
most  famous  work,  first  issued  in  151 6,  was  a  satire  on 
the  defects  of  English  society,  veiled  under  a  descrip- 
tion of  life  in  "  Nowhere."  His  views  were  greatly  at 
odds  with  the  tendencies  of  the  time  ;  but  progress  since 
his  day  has  been  mainly  along  the  lines  which  he  in- 
dicated. 

At  first  the  young  king  was  much  interested  in  the  Oxford 
movement,  and  bestowed  many  favors  upon  its  leaders, 
but  his  aims  accorded  little  with  their  ideals.  As  a  result  of 
his  policy  the  country  was  soon  involved  in  the  turmoil 
of  continental  politics  and  religious  strife,  and  the  revival  of 
learning  in  England  had  little  direct  result. 

Wolsey.  — Although  from  the  first  Henry's  vigorous,  mas- 
terful personality  dominated  his  surroundings,  yet  during  the 
early  part  of  his  reign  the  shaping  of  England's  home  and 
Green,  foreign  policy  was  mainly  in  the  hands  of  his  great  minister, 

pp-  332-334-  Thomas  ^Volsey.  The  son  of  an  Ipswich  burgher,  Wolsey 
Ca^^nud'  ^^'^^  trained  for  the  Church  and  held  a  royal  chaplaincy  in 
Wolsey,  the  reign  of  the   first  Tudor.     Under  Henry  VHI  he  rose 

pp.  i8-2q.  rapidly  in  office,  until  finally,  in  15 15,  he  was  made 
chancellor,  receiving  in  the  same  year  the  cardinal's  hat. 
His  great  abilities,  his  industry,  and  his  devotion  to  the 
royal  interest  made  him  indispensable  to  Henry,  who 
heaped  upon  him  office  and  honor  and  intrusted  him  for 
fourteen  years  with  the  highest  autliority  in  Church  and 
State. 

Wolsey's  aim  was  to  make  the  king  absolute  in  England, 
and  England  the  first  state  in  Europe.  He  felt  that  the 
royal  power  was  the  only  means  of  holding  the  country 
together,  and  he  believed  that  the  time  had  come  for  Eng- 
land to  take  part  in  continental  affairs  if  she  would  main- 


Foreig^ji  Relations 


223 


tain  her  place  among  nations.  Peace  was  his  policy,  how- 
ever, and  diplomacy  his  weapon.  England  was  to  make 
her  influence  felt  not  through  conquest,  but  by  holding  the 
balance  of  power  between  the  rival  states  of  France  and 
Spain,  now  contending  for  mastery  in  Europe. 

Foreign  Relations.  —  During  the  first  part  of  the  sixteenth   Bright,  1 1, 
century  the  destinies  of  Europe  were  in  the  hands  of  three  377-381. 
young  rulers.     Six  years  after  Henry's  accession,  Francis  I 
ascended  the  French  throne,  and  in  15 19  Charles  V,  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  found  himself  Emperor  of  Germany  and 


The  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold 

From  the  famous  painting  in  Hampton  Court  Palace 

ruler  of  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  and  the  Italian  provinces. 
The  maintenance  of  the  balance  of  power  was  the  control- 
ling interest  in  international  relations.  Charles  and  Francis 
were  rivals  on  the  Continent,  and  both  sought  to  secure  the 
aid  of  England.  In  1520  Francis  and  Henry  met  near 
Calais,  and  the  gorgeous  display  on  both  sides  gave  to  the 
meeting  the  name  of  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold.  The 
underlying  object  of  the  French  king  was  to  secure  Henry's 
alliance,  but  Charles  had  been  beforehand  and  had  already 
come  to  an  understanding  with  the  English  king. 


224 


The   Tndors  and  the  Reformation 


Source-Book, 
pp.  136-140. 


Flodden, 
1513- 


Green, 

pp.  327^329. 


Wolsey's  purpose,  however,  was  to  make  England  media- 
tor of  Europe,  and  not  an  ally  of  either  France  or  Spain. 
In  the  main  his  support  was  given  to  France  as  the  weaker 
party,  but  the  interests  of  trade,  the  marriage  alliance,  and 
the  traditional  hostility  between  the  English  and  French 
tended  to  draw  England  to  the  Emperor's  side.  Wolsey  was 
a  master  of  diplomacy,  and  as  a  result  of  his  efforts  England 
regained  that  influence  on  the  Continent  which  she  had  lost 
during  the  civil  wars,  and  became  for  a  time  the  arbiter  of 
Europe. 

Henry  was  eager  to  play  a  more  active  part  in  foreign 
affairs.  In  15 12  and  15 13,  and  again  in  1523,  England  sent 
expeditions  into  France,  but  as  a  rule  there  was  much  nego- 
tiation and  intrigue  and  little  fighting.  The  only  general 
engagement  of  the  period  was  fought  on  the  Scottish 
Border.  At  the  battle  of  Flodden  (i 513),  the  Scots,  as 
usual  alUed  with  France,  were  completely  defeated  by  the 
English  and  lost  their  king.  In  1526,  Wolsey's  triumph 
seemed  complete,  and  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  that 
the  crisis  of  the  reign,  bringing  with  it  his  downfall,  was 
impending. 

The  Royal  Divorce.  —  Soon  after  his  accession  Henry,  hav- 
ing obtained  the  necessary  papal  dispensation,  had  married 
Catherine  of  Aragon,  the  widow  of  his  brother  Arthur.  For 
many  years  they  had  lived  together,  and  she  had  borne  him 
several  children,  of  whom,  however,  only  one,  the  Princess 
Mary,  survived.  At  length  the  king's  scruples  were  awakened 
as  to  the  validity  of  his  marriage.  He  began  to  doubt  the 
pope's  power  to  grant  a  dispensation,  and  he  saw  in  the 
death  of  his  children  a  punishment  for  having  violated 
the  ecclesiastical  law.  Moreover,  he  realized  the  danger  to 
the  peace  of  the  country  in  the  lack  of  a  male  heir.  Although 
not  excluded  by  law,  no  woman  had  ever  reigned  in  England, 
and  the  evil  that  might  result  from  a  disputed  succession  had 
been  proved  by  a  generation  of  civil  war.  Henry  was  skil- 
ful in  finding  conscientious  reasons  for  gratifying  his  selfish 
desires,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  bright  eyes  and  merry  wit 


The  Royal  Divorce 


225 


of  Anne  Boleyn,  one  of  Catherine's  ladies-in-waiting,  lielped   Anne 
to  arouse  him  to  the  sinfuhiess  of  his  condition.  °  ®^°' 

Catherine  spurned  the  suggestion  that  she  should  quietly 
submit  to  being  set  aside,  and  Henry,  by  the  advice  of 
Wolsey,  appealed  to  the  pope  for  a  divorce.  At  first  the 
cardinal  had  opposed  Henry's  scheme  of  separation,  but 
finding  his  remonstrances  fruitless,  he  gave  way,  hoping  to 


L    ^  'jCu.^ld  Mi,Ljj^  jS/ytrtA/^^     ^Sb"-?^    jijt/£imxi^ ^^a^^jsfiA/ers^      «- .   .  ^    ^ 


*^y.A*j  jftojC}  Au/n^ii^ 


tXi^ifiA'  ^rvPC^ 


Christ  Church  College,  Oxford,   founded  by  Wolsey 


turn  the  matter  to  good  account  in  foreign  politics,  by  mar- 
rying Henry  to  a  French  princess.  The  appeal  to  the  pope 
was  unsuccessful.  Clement  was  not  free  to  act,  for  he  was 
practically  in  the  power  of  the  Emperor,  who  was  Catherine's 
nephew  and  had  ardently  espoused  her  cause.  A  positive 
answer  was  delayed,  but  it  was  plain  that  the  pope  dared 
not  annul  a  marriage  sanctioned  by  one  of  his  predecessors. 
Q 


226 


The   Tiidors  and  the  Reformation 


Creighton, 
Cardinal 
Wolsey, 
pp.  102-106, 
110-115. 
Bright,  II, 
386-388. 


Green, 

PP-  324-326, 

329-331- 


Creighton, 
Cardinal 
Wolsey, 
ch.  XI. 


Creighton, 
Age  of 
Elizabeth, 
pp.  1-4. 


Fall  of  "Wolsey. — The  king's  disappointment  at  the  check 
to  his  union  with  Anne  Boleyn  was  great,  and  he  consoled 
himself  by  disgracing  Wolsey,  on  whom,  most  unreasonably, 
the  blame  of  defeat  was  thrown.  With  untiring  zeal  the  car- 
dinal had  labored  in  the  interests  of  the  king,  but  no  memory 
of  past  services  could  put  a  curb  on  Henry's  selfishness. 
The  great  minister  was  friendless.  The  nobles  were  jealous 
of  his  power,  and  he  was  feared  and  hated  by  the  people. 
The  methods  of  his  government  had  been  arbitrary.  Only 
once  ( 1523)  had  Parliament  been  convened  during  the  period 
of  Wolsey's  administration.  Henry's  warlike  ambition  and 
personal  extravagance  placed  heavy  burdens  on  the  people, 
and  the  chancellor  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  every  unpopular 
measure.  In  1525,  for  example,  an  attempt  was  made  to 
meet  the  king's  need  of  money  by  asking  the  nation  for  what 
was  called  an  "amicable  loan."  The  plan  had  to  be  given 
up  because  of  popular  opposition,  and  Wolsey  took  the 
odium  of  the  proposal  upon  himself.  "  Because  every  man 
layeth  the  burden  from  him,  I  am  content  to  take  it  on  me, 
and  to  endure  the  noise  and  fame  of  the  people,  for  my  good 
will  towards  the  king  .  .  .  but  the  Eternal  God  knoweth  all." 
Wolsey  had  made  the  king  absolute  at  home,  and  had  raised 
England  from  a  third-rate  power  to  the  rank  of  a  great  state. 
Now  he  was  no  longer  needed,  and  his  ungrateful  master 
removed  him  from  office  (1529). 

The  Protestant  Reformation. — The  divorce  question  had 
consequences  even  more  momentous  than  the  overthrow  of 
Wolsey,  for  it  opened  the  way  to  separation  from  Rome  and 
to  reform  in  the  Church.  On  the  Continent  the  fierce  pas- 
sions of  religious  revolution  were  stirring.  Men  had  long 
been  ready  for  revolt  against  the  misused  authority  of  a 
corrupt  and  secularized  papacy,  and  the  attack  made  by 
Martin  Luther  on  the  practices  and  teachings  of  the  Church 
found  quick  response.  When  the  German  friar  nailed  the 
ninety-five  theses  against  indulgences  to  the  door  of  the 
church  at  Wittenberg  (15 17),  he  gave  the  signal  for  a 
movement  that  was  to  convulse  Christendom. 


The  Protestatit  Reformation 


227 


To  all  appearances  the  Church  in  England  was  never  so   Biight,  II, 
strong  as  at  the  accession  of  Henry  VII I.     It  had  enjoyed  474.475- 
general  immunity  from   the   devastations  of  the   civil  war. 
Its  wealth  was  enormous,  —  one-third  the  land  of  the  king- 
dom is  said  to  have  been  under  its  control.     It  possessed 
its  own  legislative  assembly  (convocation)  and  its  own  courts 
of  justice.     Ecclesiastics  filled  the  great  state  offices,  and 
were  in  the  majority  in  the  House  of  Lords.     But  higher 
and  lower  clergy  alike  were  corrupt  and  neglectful  of  their  Traill,  II, 
responsibilities.     In  a  sermon  preached  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,   464-475' 


xrf-^^t'J^ 


The  Tithe  Barn,  Glastonbury 

From  a  photograph 


Latimer  declared  that  the  devil  was  the  only  bishop  in  all 
England  who  attended  to  his  duty.  Extortionate  fees  were 
charged  by  the  priests  for  their  religious  offices.  Pluralities 
multiplied  ;  some  of  the  clergy  held  as  many  as  eight  bene- 
fices.* 

The  Church  was  losing  its  hold  upon  the  people.     Lol- 

1  Wolsey  was  at  once  Archbishop  of  York,  Bishop  of  Winchester  and 
of  Durham,  and  Abbot  of  St.  Albans. 


221 


The   Tudors  and  the  Reformation 


lardry  had  accustomed  men  to  criticise  the  clergy.  The 
bold,  intellectual  spirit  of  the  age  was  impatient  of  ecclesi- 
astical dogma  and  ignorance,  and  the  traditional  dislike  to 
papal  interference  was  strong.  The  influence  of  the  re- 
ligious agitation  on  the  Continent  was  quickly  felt  in  Eng- 
land.    Books   and   pamphlets   from   Germany  flooded  the 


xyfi-l"'' 


The  Abbey  Kitchen,  Glastonbury 

From  a  photograph 


country.  Cambridge  became  a  hotbed  of  heresy.  Asso- 
ciations, the  most  famous  of  which  was  called  the  Christian 
Brethren,  were  formed  for  the  study  and  circulation  of  the 
Bible.i 

^  The  Scriptures  had  been  translated  into  English  in  1526  by  William 
Tyndale,  and  were  rendered  accessible  through  the  printing  press. 


334,  335- 


Long  Parliament  of  the  Reformation        229 

It  was  plain  that  the  seeming  strength  of  the  Church 
was  a  mere  shadow,  that  its  power  was  wholly  dependent 
upon  royal  favor.  Henry  had  shown  himself  hitherto  a 
loyal  son  of  the  Church.  He  gloried  in  the  title  of  Defender 
of  the  Faith,  and  had  engaged  in  a  wordy  contest  with 
Luther  ;  but  his  temper  was  too  selfish,  his  love  of  popularity 
too  great,  to  afford  any  security  for  the  future. 

Thomas  Cromwell.  —  The  year  1529  marks  a  turning-point  Green, 
in  the  affairs  of  Church  and  State.  The  master-mind  in  the  P^'  331-333. 
revolutionizing  work  that  followed  Wolsey's  fall  was  Thomas 
Cromwell.  Although  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  English 
statesmen,  much  of  Cromwell's  character  and  career  remains 
a  mystery.  He  was  of  humble  origin  and  had  served  as  a 
trooper  in  the  Italian  wars.  In  1523  he  was  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  a  little  later  he  entered 
Wolsey's  service,  remaining  the  cardinal's  faithful  friend  after 
his  overthrow.  He  was  already  in  middle  life  when  he  won 
the  king's  favor  by  his  audacious  advice  that  Henry  should 
divorce  Catherine  by  his  own  royal  decree.  In  a  short  time 
he  became  the  second  man  in  the  kingdom.  Cromwell's  pur- 
pose, steadily  worked  out  during  the  years  of  his  power,  was 
the  concentration  of  all  authority  in  the  hands  of  the  king. 
His  methods  were  bold  and  ruthless,  he  inaugurated  a  reign 
of  terror.  No  individual  was  too  high,  no  interest  too  power- 
ful, to  cause  him  to  stay  his  hand.  Wolsey  strove  to  rule 
without  Parliament,  but  Cromwell  made  the  national  assem- 
bly his  tool.  During  the  next  ten  years  of  his  administration, 
every  constitutional  limitation  on  the  royal  will  was  borne 
down  or  made  meaningless,  the  Church  was  humbled,  and 
the  government  became  a  despotism  pure  and  simple. 

Long  Parliament  of  the  Reformation.  —  The  Parliament 
which  met  in  1529,  and  which  sat  for  seven  years,  was  the 
instrument  through  which  England  was  revolutionized.  The 
king  had  turned  reformer  since  the  clergy  espoused  Cathe- 
rine's cause.  The  House  of  Commons  was  packed,  but  there 
needed  no  urging  to  induce  the  attack  upon  the  Church. 
The  beginning  once  made,  advance  was  rapid.     Benefit  of 


230 


The    Til  dors  and  the  Reformation 


Green, 

PP-  336-338. 


Act  of 
Supremacy, 

1534- 

Bright,  II, 
479-484. 


Traill,  II, 
466-469. 


clergy  was  done  away,  pluralities  were  abolished,  church 
dues,  such  as  burial  fees,  were  regulated,  the  jurisdiction  of 
ecclesiastical  courts  was  circumscribed,  convocation  was 
shorn  of  much  of  its  power,  and  the  choice  of  bishops  was 
made  entirely  subject  to  the  royal  will. 

Hand  in  hand  with  these  changes  in  the  Church  in 
England  went  measures  affecting  the  connection  with  Rome. 
Henry  readily  acknowledged  the  power  of  the  pope,  so  long 
as  that  power  was  used  to  further  his  will,  but  he  now 
began  to  doubt  the  usefulness  of  an  institution  that  stood 
in  his  way.  Acting  on  Cromwell's  advice,  the  king  had 
caused  the  divorce  question  to  be  brought  before  an  English 
court  presided  over  by  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
To  stop  an  appeal  from  Catherine  to  the  pope,  a  statute 
was  passed,  prohibiting  appeals  to  Rome.  When  Cranmer's 
court  proceeded  to  pass  a  decree  of  divorce,'  it  was  met 
by  a  papal  decision  in  favor  of  Catherine  and  a  bull  of  ex- 
communication against  the  king.  Henry  had  already  wrung 
from  the  clergy  a  limited  recognition  of  his  supremacy. 
Parliament  now  declared  the  pope  to  have  no  more  au- 
thority over  the  Church  of  England  than  any  other  foreign 
bishop,  and  by  the  Act  of  Supremacy  (1534)  the  king  was 
made  supreme  head  of  the  Church  in  England. 

Attack  upon  the  Monasteries.  —  The  work  of  revolution 
in  the  Church  did  not  stop  at  the  break  with  Rome. 
Cromwell,  who  was  now  the  king's  vicar-general  in  all 
ecclesiastical  matters,  determined  to  strike  a  blow  at  the 
monasteries.  Their  condition  had  long  been  a  crying 
evil.  As  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  IV  the  House  uf 
Commons  had  demanded  their  suppression.  Repeated  at- 
tempts at  reform  had  been  made,  Wolsey,  who  realized 
the  dangerous  position  of  the  Church,  had  tried  to  meet 
criticism  by  reform  from  within,  and  he  had  accepted  a 
legative  commission  from  the  pope  that  he  might  have 
greater  control  over  the  monasteries.  But  he  did  little 
more   than  clearly  to  reveal  the  rottenness  of   the  whole 

1  Henry  was  already  secretly  married  to  Anne  Boleyn. 


Attack  icpon  the  Monasteries 


231 


structure.  The  age  of  monasticism  was  passed,  and  as  a 
rule  the  religious  establishments  had  become  mere  land- 
owning corporations,  chiefly  interested  in  adding  to  their 
wealth.  Cromwell  appointed  a  commission  (1535)  to  in- 
vestigate the  conditions  of  the  monastic  houses.  The  "  Black 
Book,"  the  commissioners'  report  to  Parliament,  was  burned 
in  the  reign  of  Mary  by  order  of  the  queen,  but  the  in- 


— s^iaiSSas^ 


The  Ruined  Abbey,  Glastonbury 

From  a  photograph 


formation  that  remains  is  sufficient  to  show  that  many  of 
the  smaller  monasteries  merited  the  fate  that  overtook  them. 
In  1536,  by  act  of  Parliament,  all  monasteries  having  an 
annual  revenue  of  less  than  ;^200  were  suppressed  and 
their  property  was  confiscated  by  the  crown.  Three  years 
later  all  other  religious  houses  were  dissolved.  The  monas- 
tic buildings  were  laid  desolate  or  secularized,  and  it  is  esti- 
mated that  over  eighty  thousand  persons  were  driven  forth 


232 


The   Tudo7's  ajtd  the  Reformation 


Green, 

pp.  340,  341, 

351.354.355- 


Ten 

Articles. 

The  English 
Bible  given 
to  the 
people. 

Sou?-ce-Book, 
pp.  144,  145. 


Green, 

PP-  343-347. 


homeless.^  The  annual  income  of  the  monasteries  has  been 
estimated  at  about  p/^200,000.  Part  of  this  wealth  was  used 
for  national  purposes,  the  founding  of  new  bishoprics,  and 
the  defence  of  the  coasts ;  but  the  greater  portion  was 
squandered  upon  the  nobles  and  courtiers  about  the  king. 

Progress  in  Doctrinal  Reform.  —  Meanwhile,  changes  were 
taking  place  which  were  not  intended  by  the  government 
when  it  began  the  attack  upon  the  Church.  Protestantism 
was  steadily  gaining  ground.  The  triumph  of  Anne  Boleyn 
and  her  kinsfolk,  the  Howards,  favored  the  reform  party,  and 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  gave  it  his  countenance. 
Moreover,  Henry's  ecclesiastical  policy  had  resulted  in  the 
isolation  of  England,  and  to  meet  this  danger  Cromwell  was 
drawing  closer  to  the  protestant  princes  of  North  Germany. 
This  made  it  impossible  to  use  harsh  measures  toward  fol- 
lowers of  the  new  doctrines  at  home.  Popular  feeling  and 
political  considerations  combined  to  hurry  the  government 
along.  In  1530  the  Council,  by  the  king's  command,  had 
issued  a  declaration  against  Luther's  writings,  but  in  1536, 
convocation,  acting  at  Henry's  bidding,  drew  up  the  Ten 
Articles,  a  statement  of  doctrine  which  showed  a  decided 
advance  toward  Lutheranism.  A  complete  English  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  had  been  made  by  Coverdale,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  king,  and  it  was  ordered  (1538)  that  a  copy 
of  this,  open  to  all,  should  be  placed  in  every  church.  Por- 
tions of  the  service,  also,  were  translated  into  the  vernacular. 
The  destruction  of  the  monasteries  was  accompanied  by  an 
attack  upon  relics,  the  object  of  popular  worship.  Here  the 
religious  zeal  of  the  reformer  was  reenforced  by  the  greed 
of  the  spoilsman,  since  some  of  the  shrines  were  rich  in  gold 
and  jewels.^ 

Attitude  of  the  Nation.  —  The  changes  wrought  in  the 
constitution  of  the  Church  created  at  first  but  slight  stir 


1  For  most  of  the  religious  a  scanty  provision  was  made. 

2  Among  the  shrines  destroyed  by  the  king's  order  was  that  of  St. 
Thomas  of  Canterbury.  The  treasure  which  had  accumulated  was  taken 
away  by  cart  loads,  and  the  bones  of  the  saint  were  burned. 


Attitude  of  the  Nation 


233 


among  the  people.  Indifference  in  religious  matters  was 
genera],  and  there  was  little  loyalty  to  the  Papacy.  In  1533 
Anne  Boleyn  gave  birth  to  a  daughter  (afterward  Queen 
Elizabeth),  and  Parliament  proceeded  to  i)ass  an  Act  of 
Succession  declaring  the  marriage  with  Catherine  invalid 
and  settling  the  succession  upon  the  children  of  the  second 
marriage.^  At  the  pleasure  of  the  king  any  one  might  be 
required  to  take  an  oath  to  accept  this  statute,  which  was 
equivalent  to  denial  of  the  papal  authority.  By  the  Act  of 
Supremacy  (1534)  it  was  declared  high  treason  to  refuse  to 
acknowledge  the  king  as  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church.  There 
was  little  backwardness  in  taking  the  required  oaths.  Alone 
among  the  religious  establishments  the  monks  of  the  Charter 
House  were  firm  in  their  loyalty  to  Rome,  and  they  paid  for 
their  devotion  with  their  lives.  Two  men  of  European  fame 
were  executed  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  the  Act  of 
Succession.  One  was  Fisher,  the  venerable  Bishop  of  Executioi 
Rochester,  renowned  for  his  learning  and  piety.  The  other  °^^^  ^^^^ 
was  Sir  Thomas  More,  the  greatest  scholar  of  the  age,  and  1535. 
beloved  of  all  men. 

Discontent  was  growing ;  for  although  there  was  much  Source-Dook, 
indifference  to  the  papal  connection,  the  popular  temper  PP'  140-144- 
was  conservative  and  the  ancient  Church  still  had  a  hold 
upon  men's  hearts  if  not  upon  their  minds.  The  excesses 
of  some  of  the  reformers  gave  deep  offence,  and  dissatis- 
faction was  increased  by  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries. 
In  the  north,  especially,  where  were  many  of  the  larger 
houses,  the  monks  had  endeared  themselves  to  the  poor. 
Moreover,  many  of  the  older  nobility  were  jealous  of  the 
power  wielded    by  the   upstart    Cromwell.     These   various 

1  Henry  VIII,  m.  i.  Catherine  of  Aragon,  1509 
i  I 

I  Mary 

m.  2.  Anne  Boleyn,  1533 

I  Elizabeth 

m.  3.  Jane  Seymour,  1536 

I  EdvVard  VI 

m.  4.  Anne  of  Cleves,  1540 
m.  5.  Catherine  Howard,  1540 
m.  6.  Catherine  Parr,  1543 


234 


The    Tndors  and  the  Reformation 


Pilgrimage 
of  Grace, 
1536- 


Green, 

PP-  355.  356. 


Six  Articles, 
1539- 


grievances  led  to  a  great  rising  of  the  north  in  1536.  The 
first  outbreak  was  at  Lincoln,  but  the  movement  soon  spread 
to  Yorkshire,  where  it  found  an  able  leader  in  Robert  Aske, 
a  young  London  barrister.  The  Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  as  the 
rising  was  called,  included  all  classes,  great  churchmen, 
nobles,  the  gentry,  and  the  country  people  led  by  the  parish 
priests.  The  demands  of  the  insurgents  were  for  the  resto- 
ration of  the  monasteries,  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  and  the 
overthrow  of  Cromwell.  But  the  crown  was  too  strong  to 
be  forced  to  give  way,  the  rising  was  ruthlessly  repressed, 
and  the  leaders,  including  some  of  the  greatest  men  in  the 
Church  and  among  the  nobility,  were  put  to  death. 

The  Crown  and  Reaction.  —  Nevertheless,  in  the  main, 
Henry  was  at  one  with  the  people  on  religious  questions. 
He  would  have  been  content  with  separation  from  Rome. 
He  had  no  ^  wish  to  overthrow  the  ancient  worship,  and 
was  opposed  to  doctrinal  changes.  With  the  extreme 
views  of  the  Protestants  he  had  no  sympathy  whatever. 
Political  considerations  forced  him  to  connive  for  a  time 
at  the  progress  of  the  reformation  in  England,  but  by  1539 
it  was  plain  that  the  danger  on  the  Continent  had  passed 
away,  and  Henry  was  free  to  follow  his  natural  conservatism. 
Parliament,  completely  subservient  to  his  will,  passed  an 
act  for  "  abolishing  diversity  of  opinion  in  certain  articles 
concerning  Christian  religion."  The  Act  of  the  Six  Articles, 
as  this  measure  was  called,  contained  the  fundamental 
Cathohc  doctrines  and  closed  the  way  to  even  moderate 
doctrinal  change.  Under  the  "whip  with  six  strings,"  perse- 
cution of  the  Protestants  followed,  and  many  were  put  to 
death.  On  the  other  hand,  Henry  abated  nothing  of  his 
claim  to  supremacy,  and  on  the  same  scaffold  men  died  for 
denying  the  Catholic  doctrine  and  for  maintaining  the  papal 
supremacy.  Throughout  the  remaining  years  of  his  reign 
Henry  succeeded  in  holding  an  uncertain  balance  between 
the  old  and  the  new  order,  but  it  was  plain  that  a  tide 
of  feeling  was  rising  which  would  soon  sweep  away  all 
compromises. 


TJic  Affairs  of  Scot /and  235 

Fall  of  Cromwell.  —  Closely  connected  with  the  triumph  Green, 
of  a  reactionary  policy  was  the  fall  of  Cromwell.  The  PP-  347. 348. 
great  minister's  foreign  policy  was  based  on  a  union  with 
Protestant  Germany,  and  in  the  interests  of  this  scheme  he 
had  planned  a  marriage  between  Henry,  now  a  widower  for 
the  third  time,  and  a  German  princess,  Anne  of  Cleves. 
But  the  grand  alliance  against  the  emperor  miscarried, 
and  Cromwell's  doom  was  sealed  by  the  king's  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  wife  chosen  for  him.  The  nobles  clamored 
for  the  minister's  overthrow,  and  he  met  the  usual  fate  of 
Henry's  instruments  when  no  longer  of  service.  Charged 
with  treason,  he  was  seized  at  the  council  table,  and  sent 
to  the  scaffold  by  a  bill  of  attainder  ^  without  being  heard 
in  his  own  defence  (1540). 

The  Affairs  of  Scotland.  —  The  remaining  years  of  the 
reign  were  filled  with  trouble  with  Scotland.  The  defeat 
of  Flodden  Field  (15 13)  had  been  followed  by  an  outbreak  Bright,  II, 
of  lawlessness  in  the  northern  kingdom.  A  struggle  between  414-419- 
parties  representing  the  French  and  the  English  influence 
ended  in  the  marriage  of  the  king,  James  V,  with  Mary  of 
Guise,  and  the  triumph  of  the  French  interest.  In  1542 
war  between  Francis  I  and  Charles  V  involved  the  British 
kingdoms.  A  Scottish  force  crossed  the  Border,  but  was 
defeated  at  Solway  Moss.  James  V  did  not  long  survive 
the  disgrace  of  defeat.  He  left  the  kingdom  to  his  infant 
daughter,  the  famous  Mary  Stuart. 

Power  of  the  Crown.  —  Under  the  second  Tudor  per- 
sonal rule  reached  its  fullest  development.  All  power  was 
concentrated  in  the  hands  of  the  king,  the  Church  lay  at 
his  feet.  Parliament  simply  registered  his  wishes.  The 
forms  of  constitutional  rule  were  maintained,  but  in  actual 
fact  the  government  was  despotic.  At  the  royal  bidding 
new   treasons  were    created,   the   succession  was   changed, 

^  A  bill  of  attainder  was  introduced  into  Parliament  and  became  law 
like  any  other  measure,  after  passing  both  Houses  and  receiving  the  royal 
assent.  By  this  process  condemnation  to  death  could  be  secured  in  a 
summary  manner  and  without  the  production  of  evidence. 


236 


TJic   Tudors  and  the  Reformation 


Bright,  II, 

420, 421. 


royal  proclamations  were  declared  to  have  the  force  of  law, 
and  finally  the  king  was  permitted  to  name  his  successor 
by  will.^  Nevertheless  Henry  did  not  lose  touch  with  the 
nation ;  he  understood  the  temper  of  his  subjects  and, 
unscrupulous  and  self-seeking  though  he  was,  he  still  won 
popular  approval  even  while  treading  popular  liberty  under 
foot. 


/x/»  /; 


Coronation  Procession  of  Edward  VI  passing  Cheapside  Cross 

From  a  contemporary  painting.     Marck,  Konigin  Elizabeth 

Edward  VI  (1547-1553). — The  heir  to  the  great  power 
which  Henry  had  built  up  was  a  boy  of  nine  years.  By  the 
royal  will  a  council  representing  both  parties  and  including 

1  By  his  last  will  Henry  left  the  crown  to  Prince  Edward  and  his  heirs, 
then  to  Mary  and  her  heirs,  then  to  Elizabeth  and  her  heirs,  and  then 
to  Mary  of  Suffolk  and  her  heirs,  passing  over  the  descendants  of  his  older 
sister  Margaret  of  Scotland. 


The  Protestant  Revolution  237 

the  chancellor,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  the  Earl 
of  Hertford,  the  young  king's  uncle,  was  appointed  to 
govern  the  realm  during  the  minority.  The  late  king  was 
still  unburied  when  his  will  was  set  aside,  and  Hertford,  now 
Duke  of  Somerset,  was  made  Protector  of  the  kingdom  and  Somerset, 
guardian  of  the  young  king.  Somerset  had  little  fitness  for  Protector, 
the  place  which  he  had  seized.  He  was  sincere  and  earnest 
and  full  of  philanthropic  ideas,  but  impulsive  and  over- 
confident. The  task  before  him  was  a  difficult  one.  Rela- 
tions with  France  and  Scotland  were  critical,  while  at  home 
there  was  much  social  discontent  and  religious  division. 

The  Scottish  War.  —  Somerset's  incompetency  was  at  once  Bright,  ii, 
shown  by  his  dealings  with  Scotland.  With  great  effort  425-427. 
Henry  VHI  had  established  friendly  relations  with  the 
Scots,  and  on  the  accession  of  Edward  an  unrivalled  oppor- 
tunity offered  for  uniting  the  two  countries  by  marrying  the 
young  king  to  the  little  queen  of  Scots.  Somerset's  blunder- 
ing poHcy  brought  on  a  war  with  Scotland  which,  though  it 
ended  in  the  EngHsh  victory  of  Pinkie  (1547),  had  the 
effect  of  strengthening  French  influence  across  the  Border. 
Mary  Stuart  was  carried  to  France  and  betrothed  to  the 
young  Dauphin.  In  the  war  with  France  which  soon 
broke  out,  England  could  reckon  on  the  hostility  of  Scotland. 

The  Protestant  Revolution.  —  Under  the  Protector's  lead, 
many  of  the  measures  of  the  preceding  reign  were 
promptly  reversed  by  Parliament.  The  Act  of  Six  Articles 
was  repealed,  as  were  also  all .  laws  against  heresy,  and  the 
statute  giving  royal  proclamations  the  force  of  law  was 
annulled.  All  the  treasons  created  by  Henry  VHI  were 
swept  away.  A  later  Parliament  supplemented  this  action 
by  requiring  that  henceforth  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses 
should  be  necessary  for  conviction  of  treason. 

Somerset's  advance  to  power  meant  the  triumph  of  the   Bright,  11, 
reform  party.     Personal  conviction  as  well  as  self-interest  424.  427-429. 
led  the  duke  to  oppose  the  old  order,  and  in  this  he  was  a^^^oT^' 
supported  by  the  young  king,  who  had  imbibed  protestant   Elizabeth, 
ideas  from  his  tutors.     The   short  reign  was  a  period  of  PP-  ^^~^^- 


238 


TJie   Tudors  and  the  Reformation 


Green, 

PP-  357.  358. 

Source-Book, 
pp.  146-148. 


Creighton, 
Age  of 
Elizabeth, 
pp.  19-23. 


religious  revolution.  Not  content  with  constitutional  and 
formal  changes,  Somerset  sought  to  transform  at  once  the 
doctrines  and  ritual  of  the  Church.  By  law  or  by  royal  in- 
junction, a  new  order  was  introduced  with  bewildering 
rapidity.  The  sacred  images  were  removed  from  the 
churches,  the  beautiful  stained  glass  was  broken,  and  the 
pictures  painted  on  the  walls  were  covered  with  whitewash. 
Marriage  of  the  clergy  was  made  legal.  The  vernacular 
supplanted  Latin  in  the  Church  service.  The  mass  was 
replaced  by  the  communion  service,  and  in  1549  the  Eng- 
lish Book  of  Common  Prayer  was  substituted  for  the  Latin 
missal  and  breviary  upon  which  it  was  based. 

The  confiscation  of  Church  property  was  carried  to  a 
length  unthought  of  by  Henry,  Somerset  leaned  for  sup- 
port upon  the  "  new  men,"  the  gentry  and  nobility  en- 
riched by  the  plunder  of  the  monasteries,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  satisfy  his  rapacious  followers.  The  chantries 
were  despoiled,  and  gild  property  devoted  to  religious  pur- 
poses was  attacked,  Cranmer  tried  in  vain  to  have  a  por- 
tion of  this  wealth  used  for  the  relief  of  the  poorer  clergy. 

The  revolutionary  measures  were  hurried  through  with 
small  regard  for  popular  feeling.  Irreverence  and  unbridled 
license  ran  riot.  Parodies  of  the  mass  were  common.  The 
spoil  of  the  churches,  altar-cloths,  copes,  chalices,  were  used 
to  deck  the  halls  of  private  persons,  and  the  newly  married 
wives  of  the  clergy  eked  out  their  wardrobes  with  ecclesias- 
tical vestments.  Somerset  did  not  hesitate  to  tear  down 
churches  to  make  room  for  his  new  palace  in  London. 

Popular  Opposition  and  the  Fall  of  Somerset.  —  From  the 
first  it  was  plain  that  the  nation  was  not  ready  for  extreme 
measures,  but  all  resistance  was  put  down  with  a  high  hand. 
The  clergy  were  silenced  by  decrees  that  there  should  be  no 
preaching  save  by  a  few  licensed  preachers,  and  two  of  the 
bishops,  Gardiner  and  Bonner,  who  clung  to  the  old  order, 
were  flung  into  prison.  But  discontent  was  strong  and  was 
increased  by  social  grievances.  Somerset's  political  policy 
was  as  ill-judged  as  were  his  ecclesiastical  measures.     Wars 


England  imder  NortJiumbcrland  239 

with  Scotland  and  France  meant  heavy  taxation,  and  the 
repeated  debasements  of  the  coinage  resulted  in  financial 
disorder.  Moreover,  it  was  a  time  of  agrarian  disturbance 
(p.  270),  a  state  of  things  for  which  the  government  was 
not  responsible,  but  which  added  to  its  unpopularity. 

In  1549,  risings  took  place  in  Devon  and  Cornwall.  The  Bright,  II, 
insurgents  demanded  the  restoration  of  mass  and  the  re-  431-433- 
establishment  of  images.  More  serious  was  an  insurrection 
in  Norfolk,  led  by  Ket,  a  tanner,  and  directed  against 
enclosures.  Order  was  restored  only  by  employing  a  force 
of  foreign  mercenaries,  the  first  time  that  such  a  force 
had  been  used  against  a  rising  of  the  people  since  the  reign 
of  John.  These  insurrections  led  to  the  overthrow  of 
Somerset.  He  was  disliked  by  many  because  of  his  reli- 
gious innovations  and  his  futile  foreign  policy,  while  the 
readiness  which  he  showed  to  treat  with  the  insurgents  in 
the  matter  of  enclosures  had  aroused  the  fears  of  the 
landowners. 

England  under  Northumberland.  —  The  office  of  Protector   Bright,  II, 
was  abolished  at  the  fall  of  Somerset,  but  the  power  passed  434-438,  442 
to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  later  Duke  of  Northumberland,   ^/^'shto". 

Age  of  Eliza 

Northumberland  was  as  incapable  as  Somerset  and  far  less   ^^,^/^_ 
honest   and   sincere.      One   of  the   grounds   of  complaint   PP-  23-27- 
against  Somerset  was  that  he  had  not  provided  adequately   Green, 
for  the  security  of  England  at  home  or  abroad,  but  matters   ^^'  ^^^^  ^' 
did  not  improve  under  his  successor. 

From  self-seeking  motives,  Northumberland  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  advanced  reformers.  Plunder  of  the  Church 
was  more  shameless  than  ever,  and  some  of  the  bishoprics 
were  stripped  of  their  endowments.  In  1552  a  revised  ser- 
vice book  was  issued,  and  in  the  following  year  the  Forty-  Forty-two 
two  Articles,  drawn  up  by  Cranmer,  and  strongly  Calvinistic 
in  character,  were  promulgated  on  the  authority  of  the  king, 
as  the  standard  of  faith  for  the  nation. 

The  little  king  had  never  been  strong,  and  by  1553  it  was 
plain  that  he  had  not  long  to  live.  By  Henry's  will  his  suc- 
cessor would  be  the  Princess  Mary,  and  it  was  certain  that 


Articles. 


Td^an. 


240  T/ie   Tudors  and  the  Reformation 

Northumberland  and  the  Protestant  cause  could  not  hope  to 
find  favor  with  her.  To  save  himself,  the  duke  devised  a 
plan  of  setting  Mary  and  Elizabeth  aside  as  illegitimate,  in 
order  to  secure  the  crown  to  his  daughter-in-law,  the  Lady 
Jane  Grey,  granddaughter  of  Mary  of 
^Q  jJL_  p  Suffolk.  The  young  king's  support  foi 
this  scheme  was  won  through  repre- 
sentations of  the  danger  to  Protestant- 
ism from  Mary's  succession.  Before 
the  arrangements  were  complete,  however,  Edward  died. 
Among  the  crowd  of  greedy  intriguing  courtiers  the  little 
king  had  moved  a  lonely  and  pathetic  figure.  His  life  was 
too  short  to  show  what  kind  of  a  ruler  he  would  have  been, 
but  he  was  studious  and  conscientious,  with  some  plain  in- 
dications of  the  Tudor  strength  of  will. 
Green,  Mary  (1553-1558). —  Intimidated  by  Northumberland, 

pp.  367, 368.  ^^  Council  proclaimed  Lady  Jane  Grey  queen  of  England. 
But  the  people  hated  Northumberland,  and  they  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  Lady  Jane.  The  eastern  counties  rose  in  Mary's 
support,  the  duke's  army  refused  to  fight  against  her,  and 
amid  general  rejoicing  she  was  proclaimed  queen  by  the 
same  Council  that  a  little  before  had  given  the  crown  to  her 
rival. 

The  religious  system  which  Edward  and  his  advisers  had 
built  up  rested  chiefly  on  the  power  of  the  crown,  and  on  the 
accession  of  Mary  a  reaction  at  once  set  in.  Without  inter- 
ference from  the  government,  mass  was  restored,  and,  save 
in  London  and  a  few  of  the  larger  towns,  there  was  a  general 
return  to  the  order  established  by  Henry  VHL 

Mary,  however,  was  not  content  with  undoing  the  work 
of  Somerset  and  Northumberland  :  she  wished  to  restore 
the  ancient  Church  in  all  its  completeness,  to  reinstate  the 
monasteries,  to  renew  the  connection  with  Rome.  By  the 
advice  of  Gardiner,  whom  Edward's  death  had  set  free  and 
who  was  now  chancellor,  Mary  did  not  at  first  press  these 
points.  But  she  refused  to  recognize  the  marriage  of  the 
clergy,  the  deprived  bishops  were  restored,  and  many  of  the 


Repeal  of  Protestant  Legislation 


241 


leading   Protestants   were    either   driven   into    exile    or,  as 
in  the  case  of  Cranmer  and  Latimer,  thrown  into  prison. 


Mary  Tudor 

From  a  painting  ascribed  to  Antonio  Moro 


on 


\vkyi  f^t  y 


utnz 


Repeal  of  Protestant  Legislation.  —  A  carefully  packed 
Parliament  was  convened  (1554),  and  it  showed  great  com- 


242 


The   Tudors  and  the  Reformation 


Green, 

pp.  3*^2-364. 

Creighton, 

A^e  of 

Elizabeth, 

pp.  28-36. 


Wyatt's 
rising,  1554. 


Execution 
of  Lady 
Jane  Grey. 


plaisance  toward  the  royal  policy.  Both  Houses  attended 
the  celebration  of  mass  at  the  opening  of  the  session.  A 
bill  was  passed  declaring  illegal  the  decree  of  divorce  pro- 
nounced against  Catherine  by  Cranmer's  court.  All  the 
measures  of  Edward  VI  touching  the  Church  were  repealed, 
and,  after  six  days'  debate,  the  order  of  worship  as  practised 
in  the  last  years  of  Henry  VHI  was  established. 

The  Spanish  Marriage.  —  Thus  far  Mary  had  encountered 
little  opposition,  but  her  next  move  aroused  bitter  hostility. 
Charles  V  wished  to  secure  the  support  of  England  against 
France  by  marrying  the  English  queen  to  his  son  and  heir, 
Phihp.  Mary  received  the  proposal  favorably,  for  in  her 
loneliness  she  turned  to  her  mother's  relatives,  but  the  nation 
was  strongly  opposed  to  the  idea  of  a  Spanish  alliance,  and 
the  Commons  petitioned  against  it. 

The  popular  indignation  was  turned  to  account  by  the 
friends  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth.  Risings  were  organized 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  but  the  movement  was 
mismanaged,  and  failed  everywhere  except  in  Kent.  There 
Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  brought  together  a  large  force  and 
marched  upon  London.  Mary  was  in  great  danger,  but  with 
true  Tudor  energy  and  tact  she  threw  herself  upon  the 
loyalty  of  the  people.  By  her  personal  appeal  their  support 
was  won,  and  the  insurrection  was  put  down. 

The  failure  of  Wyatt's  rising  sealed  the  doom  of  Lady 
Jane  Grey.  She  had  been  held  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower 
since  Mary's  accession.  Now,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  she 
was  led  forth  to  die  upon  the  scaffold.  A  vain  attempt  was 
made  to  implicate  Elizabeth  in  the  insurrection,  but  she 
had  been  too  shrewd  to  commit  herself  to  a  treasonable  ris- 
ing, and  the  moderate  party  in  the  council  was  strongly 
opposed  to  severe  measures  against  the  next  heir,  so  her 
life  was  saved.  Parliament  made  no  further  opposition  to 
the  Spanish  marriage,  and  in  July,  1554,  it  was  celebrated  in 
spite  of  the  lukewarmness  of  the  bridegroom,  who,  much  as 
he  prized  the  English  crown,  cared  little  for  its  wearer. 

Persecution,  —  Mary  now  turned  her  attention  to  bringing 


The  Spanish  Marriage 


243 


Creighton, 

Age  of 
Elizabeth, 
pp.  36-38. 


England  again  under  the  supremacy  of  Rome.  Prepara-  Green, 
tions  were  carefully  made,  a  new  Parliament  was  called,  PP-  364-3^9- 
and  persons  of  influence  were  directed  to  secure  the  return 
of  men  of  "  wise,  grave  and  Catholic  sort."  All  efforts  were 
in  vain,  however,  and  it  soon  became  evident  that  recon- 
ciliation with  Rome  could  never  be  brought  about  if  it 
involved  restoration  of  the  abbey  lands.^  The  queen  was 
obliged  to  compromise,  and  Parliament  was  at  length 
brought  to  the  point  of  acknowledging  the  spiritual  head- 
ship of  the  Pope  on  condition  that  the  confiscated  estates 
were  left  undisturbed. 

Mary  was  determined  to  make  real  the  reunion  with 
Rome.  In  forcing  her  views  upon  the  nation,  she  showed 
all  the  self-will  of  the  Tudors  united  to  the  intemperate 
zeal  of  the  fanatic.  Her  advisers  hesitated,  Philip  coun- 
selled moderation,  but  nothing  could  deter  the  queen  from 
the  work  upon  which  she  had  set  her  heart.  She  forced 
from  Parliament  a  renewal  of  the  Lancastrian  laws  against 
heresy  and  at  once  pressed  on  their  execution. 

From  1555  to  1558  persecution  raged,  the  greatest  per- 
secution in  English  history.  Neither  high  nor  low  were 
spared.  The  Martyr's  Memorial  at  Oxford  marks  the  place 
where  Ridley,  the  deprived  Bishop  of  London,  and  Latimer 
Henry  VHTs  favorite  preacher,  were  burned  side  by  side. 
"  Play  the  man,  Master  Ridley,"  were  Latimer's  last  words  ; 
"  we  shall  this  day  light  up  such  a  candle  by  God's  grace 
in  England  as  I  trust  shall  never  be  put  out."  Foremost 
of  the  martyrs  stood  Cranmer,  primate  of  the  Church.  Of 
great  learning  but  of  cautious  temper,  he  had  slowly  come 
to  take  an  advanced  position  in  opposition  to  the  papal 
claims  ;  but  though  his  conviction  was  strong,  his  heart  was 
weak,  and  he  shrank  before  the  final  test.  Six  successive 
times  he  recanted  in  the  hope  of  purchasing  pardon,  but 
pardon  was  out  of  the  question.  He  represented  the 
extreme  party  of  English  Protestants,  and,  moreover,  Mary 
was  personally  hostile  to  him  as    an   active    agent   in   her 

1  Some  forty  thousand  families  were  interested. 


Death  o"* 
Cranmer 
1556. 


244 


The   Tiidors  and  the  Refor))iation 


Loss  of 
Calais,  1558. 

Source-Book, 
pp.  151-153. 


Creighton, 

Age  of 
Elizabeth, 
PP-  51-53- 


mother's  divorce.  When  once  his  final  doom  was  pro- 
nounced, he  regained  his  courage,  "  I  have  written  many 
things  untrue,"  he  said,  "  and  forasmuch  as  my  hand 
offended  in  writing  contrary  to  my  heart,  my  hand,  there- 
fore, shah  be  the  first  burnt."  Nearly  three  hundred  per- 
sons suffered  for  their  faith,  most  of  them  in  the  towns  and 
thickly  settled  districts,  for  there  new  opinions  found  more 
ready  acceptance  than  in  the  country. 

Mary's  Failure.  —  Darkened  by  bitter  grief,  the  life  of  the 
unhappy  queen  drew  to  a  close.  She  was  disappointed  in 
her  hope  of  children,  and  she  was  forced  to  see  that  Philip 
had  sought  in  her  merely  the  instrument  of  his  political 
schemes.  Through  the  Spanish  connection,  England  was 
involved  in  a  useless  war  with  France  which  resulted  in  the 
loss  of  Calais  (1558).  This  was  a  heavy  blow  to  the  nation, 
and  Mary  was  too  much  a  Tudor  not  to  feel  the  popular 
disapproval.  Moreover,  all  her  efforts  had  brought  Eng- 
land no  nearer  the  old  faith,  nay,  had  rather  frustrated  her 
purpose.  Men  looked  askance  at  a  church  that  could 
maintain  itself  only  through  persecution. 

State  of  Europe,  1558.  —  When  Elizabeth  ascended  the 
throne  of  England,  the  political  situation  in  Europe  was 
comphcated  and  threatening.  The  keynote  to  international 
politics  was  still  the  rivalry  between  France  and  Spain. 
Charles  V,  weary  of  the  ungrateful  and  difficult  task  of  gov- 
erning his  scattered  possessions,  had  abdicated  in  favor  of  his 
son  Philip  II,  who  became  ruler  of  Spain  and  the  Netherlands, 
and  of  unlimited  territories  in  -the  New  World.  Philip's 
aim  was  to  restore  the  mediaeval  state  and  to  unite  Chris- 
tendom, under  the  empire,  not  of  Germany,  but  of  Spain. 
In  his  way  stood  France,  in  close  alliance  with  Scotland,  and, 
through  her  position,  a  constant  menace  to  the  Low  Coun- 
,  tries. 

The  difficulties  of  the  political  situation  were  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  state  of  religious  feeling.  The  Reformation 
had  entered  upon  a  new  phase.  Under  the  influence  of 
the  Genevan  reformer,  John  Calvin,  Protestantism  lost  the 


Elizabeth  245 

moderate  and  conservative  character  which  Luther  gave  it, 
and  became  aggressive  and  vital.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Church  of  Rome  was  undergoing  a  change.  It  had  at  last 
learned  that  the  Protestants  must  be  fought  with  their  own 


Elizabeth 

After  "  the  Ermine  portrait "  at  Hatfield  House,  painted  by  Zucchero 

weapons,  that  revolution  could  be  arrested  only  by  reform, 
and  the  Council  of  Trent  was  working  out  a  comprehensive 
scheme  for  the  purification  of  the  Church, 


246 


TJie   Tudors  and  the  Reformation 


riie 

Counter- 
Reforma- 
tion. 


Creighton, 

Age  of 
Elizabeth , 
PP-  153-155- 


Green, 

PP-  369-376. 


The  Counter-Reformation,  as  this  movement  within  the 
Roman  Church  was  called,  represented  a  real  reform,  and 
hence  it  was  strong.  The  chief  instrument  of  a  purified 
Papacy  in  the  task  of  winning  back  Christendom  to  the 
ancient  faith  was  the  Society  of  Jesus,  founded  in  1540  by 
Ignatius  Loyola,  a  Spanish  knight.  The  Jesuits  showed  un- 
tiring zeal  and  devotion  in  their  work  of  combating  heresy 
and  heathenism,  and  the  broken  ranks  of  the  Catholics 
were  slowly  filling  up.  The  union  of  France  and  Spain  in 
support  of  the  Papacy  at  this  time  would  have  made  the 
Counter-Reformation  irresistible.  Protestantism  was  saved 
by  the  political  jealousies  of  the  two  great  Catholic  powers. 
As  it  was,  in  Italy  and  in  Spain  all  Protestant  beginnings  were 
destroyed.  In  France,  the  Netherlands,  and  Scotland,  how- 
ever, the  followers  of  Calvin  were  numerous  and  influential, 
and  their  spirit  was  ardent  and  determined. 

Elizabeth,  1558-1603. — The  situation  that  confronted 
Elizabeth  was  one  to  daunt  the  stoutest  heart.  The  pope 
refused  to  recognize  her  title  to  the  crown,  England  was  at 
war  with  France,  and  the  danger  from  that  quarter  was  in- 
creased by  the  close  connection  between  the  B'rench  and 
Scottish  governments.  The  treasury  was  empty,  the  coinage 
was  in  confusion,  industrial  conditions  were  disturbed. 
England  stood  alone.  It  is  true  that  Philip  of  Spain  offered 
an  alliance,  even  proposing  marriage  with  Elizabeth,  but 
religious  as  well  as  political  considerations  made  such  a 
union  impossible. 

The  danger  and  difficulty  of  Elizabeth's  position  were 
greatly  increased  by  the  deepening  religious  divisions 
among  the  people.  The  bulk  of  the  nation  longed  for 
peace,  and  might  have  agreed  to  a  return  to  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal system  of  Henry  VIII,  but  religious  strife  had  passed 
beyond  the  point  of  reconciUation.  The  Catholic  party 
was  bent  on  maintaining  the  connection  with  Rome.  On 
the  other  hand,  persecution  had  rendered  fierce  and  uncom- 
promising the  temper  of  the  Protestants,  and  their  cause 
was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  return  of  the  many  exiles 


ElizabctJis  Foreign  Policy 


247 


filled  with  Calvinistic  ideas  imbibed  abroad.  It  was  diffi- 
cult to  devise  an  ecclesiastical  jiolicy  which  would  find 
general  acceptance,  and  it  was  certain  that  a  foreign  policy 
which  meant  either  a  Protestant  or  a  Catholic  alliance  would 
at  once  precipitate  religious  strife  at  home.  The  union  of 
France  and  Spain  at  this  time  would  have  been  fatal  to 
English  independence,  and  it  was  not  impossible  that 
religious  considerations  would  vanquish  political  jealousies 


Autograph  of  Elizabeth 

Marck,  Konigitt  Elizabeth 

and  bring  about  an  alliance  between  the  two  great  Catholic 
powers  in  the  interests  of  Rome. 

Elizabeth's  Foreign  Policy.  —  The  poHcy  which  Elizabeth 
adopted  in  foreign   affairs  was   cautious   and   temporizing. 
She  saw  that  peace  was  what  England   needed   above    all 
things.     "  No  war,   my  lords,  no  war,"  was   her  often  re- 
peated  warning  at   the  council   board.     Philip's   marriage 
offers  were  rejected,  although  in  carefully  courteous  terms.   Age  of 
and  the  war  with  France  was  quickly  brought  to  a  close  by  Elizabeth 
the  final  abandonment  of  Calais.     Henceforth,  if  Elizabeth  ^'  ^^' 
could  have    her   way,  England  would   be   kept    free   from 
continental  entanglements.     Independence  and  peace  were 
to  be  secured   by   playing   off  one   foreign  power   against 
another.     France  and  Spain  were  to  be  held  in  check  by 


Bright,  II, 
pp.  488-490, 
Creisrhton, 


248 


TJie   Ttidors  and  the  Reforviation 


Bright,  II, 

492-494.  495- 
Green, 

PP-  376-379- 
Creighton, 
Age  of 
Elizabeth, 
pp.  46-49. 

Acts  of 

Supremacy 

and 

Uniformity, 

1559- 


the  fear  which  each  had  of  driving  England  into  union  with 
the  rival  power.  There  were  to  be  no  close  alliances. 
Assistance  was  to  be  given  only  where  necessary  to  maintain 
that  balance  in  Europe  which  alone  seemed  to  afford 
security.  To  this  course  Elizabeth,  with  the  counsel  and 
guidance  of  her  great  minister,  William  Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh, 
steadily  held  England  during  the  next  thirty  years. 

Elizabeth's  Ecclesiastical  Policy.  —  Elizabeth  met  the 
religious  question  by  compromise.  Personally  she  had 
little  sympathy  with  either  of  the  extreme  parties.  Protes- 
tant contempt  for  authority  and  tradition  was  distasteful 
to  her.  Subjection  to  Rome  was  impossible,  for  that  would 
have  meant  to  stamp  her  birth  as  illegitmiate.  Moreover,  as  a 
Tudor  she  was  unwilling  to  resign  her  authority  over  the 
Church.  But  she  approached  all  religious  questions  in  the 
temper  of  the  politician.  She  saw  that  the  convinced 
Protestants  were  her  surest  support,  that  her  cause  was 
theirs.  But  on  the  other  hand  she  knew  that  severe 
measures  against  the  Catholics  would  open  the  way  to 
foreign  intrigue. 

National  unity  in  Church  and  State  under  the  control  of 
the  crown  was  the  aim  of  her  home  policy,  and  to  this  end 
a  religious  settlement  was  devised  which  would  win  the 
support  of  the  moderates  and  drive  no  one  to  extreme 
measures.  By  the  Act  of  Supremacy  of  1559,  the  connec- 
tion with  Rome  was  finally  broken.  At  the  same  time  mass 
was  abolished,  and  an  Act  of  Uniformity  decreed  the  use  of 
King  Edward's  prayer  book.  The  oath  of  supremacy  was 
rigorously  exacted  from  ecclesiastics.  Of  the  fifteen  surviv- 
ing bishops  of  Mary's  reign,  fourteen  preferred  deprivation 
to  compliance,  but  the  parish  clergy  were  more  yielding, 
and  less  than  two  hundred  out  of  nine  thousand  remained 
true  to  Rome. 

By  a  large  portion  of  the  nation,  the  Elizabethan  settle- 
ment was  accepted  as  a  wise  and  moderate  solution 
of  the  religious  issue.  Toward  those  who  were  not 
content  with  what   had   been   done,   leniency  was  shown. 


Scotland  and  Mary  Stuart  249 

The  Act  of  Uniformity  was  not  rigidly  enforced.  The 
queen  feared  above  all  things  the  renewal  of  strife ;  she 
discouraged  preaching  and  she  would  gladly  have  seen  an 
abatement  of  interest  in  religious  questions.  There  was 
little  excitement  J  changes  were  quietly  made,  and  yet 
within  a  year  after  Elizabeth's  accession,  England,  in  the 
face  of  the  Counter-Reformation,  had  ranged  herself  once 
for  all  on  the  side  of  Protestantism. 

Scotland  and  Mary  Stuart.  —  England's  immediate  danger 
was  from  Scotland.  On  the  death  of  Mary  Tudor,  the 
young  Scottish  queen,  now  Dauphiness  of  France,  refused 
to  acknowledge  Elizabeth  as  legitimate,  and  assumed,  as 
next  in  succession,  the  title  of  Queen  of  England.  The 
strength  of  her  claim  lay  in  the  certain  support  of  France 
and  the  English  Catholics. 

More  than  two  centuries  had  elapsed  since  Scotland  f^'een, 
attained  independence  of  England.  Scotch  history  during  '  '' 
the  interval  was  a  confused  tale  of  anarchy  and  misery. 
Progress  was  slow.  Border  warfare  was  almost  continuous, 
and  the  baronage  retained  its  feudal  and  military  character. 
The  country  was  wasted  by  the  strife  of  rival  families,  the 
common  people  were  oppressed  and  degraded,  and  there 
was  little  culture  or  industry  outside  the  few  towns.  In 
1556  the  population  was  barely  600,000.  A  strong  monarchy 
seemed  the  only  hope  of  the  country,  but  since  Flodden 
Field  the  power  of  the  crown  had  been  weakened  by  two 
long  minorities.^ 

Scotland   had   now   come  under   influences  which  were   Cieighton, 
to  transform  the  national  character.     In  the  sixteenth  cen-   ^^^f.  "-{  „ 

Elizabeth, 

tury  the  Scottish  Church  was  in  much  the  same  condition  as  pp.  55-61. 
the  Church  in  England,  wealthy,  self-seeking,  and  without 
spiritual  influence.  While  Henry  VIII  exercised  an  in- 
fluence in  Scottish  counsels,  it  seemed  possible  that  the 
Reformation  might  be  brought  about  by  royal  authority, 
but   James   V   decided    for   France   and   for    Catholicism. 

1  In  1513  James  V  became  king  at  the  age  of  two  years.  At  his  death  in 
1542  he  was  succeeded  by  the  infant  Mary  Stuart. 


250 


The   Tiidors  and  the  Reformation 


When  the  Reformation  finally  came,  it  was  a  national  and 
popular  movement. 

During  the  disorders  of  the  regency  of  Mary  of  Guise,  the 
reformed  doctrines  spread  rapidly.  The  Church  was  in  close 
alliance  with  the  crown,  and  Protestantism  came  to  be  iden- 
tified with  a  growing  dislike  to  French  dominion.     In   1557 


The 

Covenant, 
1557. 


HOLYROOD 
Marck,  Konigin  Elizabeth 

all  who  favored  the  new  doctrine  bound  themselves  together 
by  a  covenant  or  pledge  to  work  for  reform.  Two  years 
later,  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation,  as  the  leaders  of  the 
Covenanters  were  called,  rose  in  rebellion  against  the 
established  order,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  over- 
thrown, and  the  French  connection  repudiated.  An  army 
was  sent  from  France  to  aid  the  regent,  and  Protestantism 
in  Scotland  might  have  been  crushed  at  the  outset  had  not 
England    been    drawn    into   the  contest.     Now,  as   always. 


^^"Ui-^?-,^^ 


Scotland  and  Mary  Stuart 


251 


Elizabeth  was  loath  to  countenance  rebellion,  but  she  saw 
clearly  the  danger  to  England  from  French  interference 
in  Scotland.  Aid  was  sent  to  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation, 
and  before  the  close  of  1560  the  French  had  been  expelled. 
By  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh,  Elizabeth's  title  to  the  English 
crown  was  recognized. 

The  triumph  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  meant  social 
and  moral  as  well  as  eccesiastical  revolution.  Under  the 
leadership  of  John  Knox,  the  Church  was  organized  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  views  of  Calvin  on  a  republican  and  Pres- 
byterian basis.  Through  their  earnest,  self-sacrificing  spirit, 
the  Reformed  clergy  came  to  wield  great  influence  in  Scot- 
land. They  set  to  work  to  reform  society,  training  the  peo- 
ple in  religion,  in  morals,  and  in  pohtics.  Under  their  stern 
rule  the  national  character  was  disciplined  and  elevated. 

In  T559  Francis,  the  husband  of  Mary  Stuart,  suddenly 
died.     There  was  no  place  in  France  for  his  widow,  and 


Treaty  of 

Edinburgh 

1560. 


Autograph  of  Mary  Stuart 

Marck,  Koiiigin  Elizabeth 

after  an  absence  of  many  years  Mary  returned  to  her  own 

kingdom  of  Scotland.     The  queen  was  a  mere  girl  of  eigh-   Creighton, 

teen,  but  she  combined  womanly  grace    and   beauty  with   ^ge  of 

masculine  vigor  of  mind  and  body.     Her  subjects  received   ^^^IJ_(^^^ 

their    young    sovereign   with    enthusiasm.      Although   the   Green, 

change  from  the  most  brilliant  court  of  Europe  to  the  rude  pp-  382-384 

•       385-389. 
surroundings  and  rough  independent  ways  of  the  Scottish 

court  was  great,  Mary  adapted  herself  skilfully  to  her  new 
home.  For  a  time  all  discord  was  silenced  by  her  tactful 
diplomacy  and  personal  fascination.  She  united  the  nobles 
in  her  support  and  settled  the  rehgious  question  by  acknowl- 
edging the  Calvinist  establishment.     These  measures  were. 


252 


The   Tudors  and  the  Rcfor))iation 


Source-Book, 
PP-  I55-I59- 


Marriage  of 
Mary  and 
Darnley, 
1565- 


Creighton, 
Age  of 
Elizabeth, 
pp.  76-79. 


Overthrow 
of  Mary, 
1568. 

Source-Book, 
pp.  161-168. 


however,  but  steps  toward  the  attainment  of  the  real  end  of 
her  policy.  An  attempt  to  induce  Elizabeth  to  recognize 
her  as  next  in  succession  having  failed,  she  then  sought  to 
organize  a  Catholic  combination  which  would  place  her  on 
the  English  throne. 

In  1565  Mary  made  a  political  marriage  with  her  cousin, 
Lord  Henry  Darnley.  Darnley  was  a  Catholic  and,  like 
Mary,  was  descended  from  Margaret  Tudor.  Ehzabeth  felt 
this  act  to  be  open  menace,  but  she  was  powerless  to  inter- 
fere. Unfortunately  for  Mary's  plans,  the  achievements  of 
her  diplomacy  were  speedily  undone  by  the  ungoverned  pas- 
sions of  her  nature.  Darnley  was  a  miserable  creature,  ill 
fitted  for  such  a  wife.  Anxious  to  increase  his  importance, 
he  allied  himself  with  the  Protestant  party  among  the  nobles. 
At  his  instigation  Rizzio,  the  queen's  friend  and  secretary, 
of  whose  influence  he  was  jealous,  wa,s  slain  almost  before  her 
eyes.  Early  in  1567  Darnley  was  murdered  at  Kirk  o'  Field, 
a  lonely  house  near  Edinburgh.  Mary's  part  in  the  affair  is 
doubtful,  but  at  any  rate  she  did  not  hesitate  to  marry  within 
three  months  the  man  generally  held  to  be  responsible  for 
Darnley's  death.  Brutal  and  self-seeking  though  he  was, 
the  Earl  of  Bothwell  had  succeeded  in  winning  Mary's  pas- 
sionate devotion,  and  for  his  sake  she  threw  away  reputation 
and  kingdom.  She  had  ruined  her  position  with  the  CathoHcs, 
for  Bothwell  was  a  Protestant,  her  subjects  were  filled  with 
horror  at  her  act,  and  when  the  nobles,  jealous  of  Bothwell's 
power,  rose  against  the  queen,  the  people  refused  to  come 
to  her  assistance.  Within  a  month  of  the  ill-omened  mar- 
riage, Bothwell  had  been  driven  into  exile,  and  Mary  was  a 
prisoner  in  her  own  castle  at  Edinburgh.  Before  the  end 
of  1568  she  had  abdicated  in  favor  of  her  infant  son  and  had 
fled  to  England  to  throw  herself  on  the  mercy  of  Elizabeth. 
It  was  not  an  easy  situation  for  the  English  government  to 
face.  To  replace  her  by  force  upon  the  Scottish  throne  was 
out  of  the  question,  nor  did  it  seem  wise  to  let  her  go  to 
France  to  become  an  instrument  of  the  Catholic  party. 
The  difficulty  was  met  by  holding  her  a  prisoner  in  England. 


Foreign  Affairs 


253 


With  the  overthrow  of  Mary  Stuart  all  danger  from  Scot- 
land passed  away.  The  alliance  with  France  was  broken  \ 
Mary's  son,  James  VI,  was  crowned  at  Stirling  (1567),  and 
under  the  guidance  of  Regent  Murray,  the  young  king's 
uncle,  Scotland  became  definitely  a  Protestant  power. 


.J.         i 


Stirling  Castle 

Foreign    Affairs.  —  On   the    Continent     conditions    had   Creighton, 
chansred,     France,  torn  by  political  and  religious  strife,  was   "^Jf.^^^    , 

,  ,.    .      ,        Elizabeth, 

no  longer  a  menace  to  England.  Catherine  de  Medici,  the  pp  107-110, 
queen  mother  and  actual  ruler,  feared  the  power  and  ambi- 
tion of  the  house  of  Guise,  a  branch  of  the  royal  Hne. 
This  division  among  the  Catholics  enabled  the  Huguenots  or 
reformed  party  to  make  great  headway  in  spite  of  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  government.  The  Guises  were  supported  by 
PhiHp  of  Spain,  and  under  these  conditions  France  sought 
the  support  of  England.      The    French    alliance   was   the 


114-117. 


Divisions  in 
France. 


254 


The   Tiidors  and  the  Reformation 


Creighton, 

Age  of 

Elizabeth, 

pp.  87-97, 

110-113,  118- 

120. 

Revolt  of  the 

Netherlands, 

1568. 


Source-Book, 
pp.  169-172. 


foundation  of  Elizabeth's  foreign  policy  during  the  middle 
part  of  her  reign.  It  was  only  temporarily  interrupted  by 
the  terrible  massacre  of  the  Huguenots  at  the  order  of  the 
French  government  in  1572.  Elizabeth  even  went  so  far  as 
seriously  to  entertain  the  idea  of  marrying  one  of  the  sons 
of  Catherine  de'  Medici.  Negotiations  concerning  the  Duke 
of  Anjou,  and  later,  the  Duke  of  Alengon,  were  carried  on 
for  some  time,  but  came  to  nothing. 

The  good  understanding  between  France  and  England 
imposed  a  check  upon  Spain.  Moreover,  Philip's  efforts  to 
root  out  Protestantism  throughout  his  dominions  had  resulted 
in  the  revolt  of  the  Netherlands  in  1568.  The  ruthless 
measures  of  Alva,  the  Spanish  general,  only  made  the  Dutch 
more  determined,  and  under  the  leadership  of  William  of 
Orange,  the  movement  to  secure  religious  freedom  was 
gradually  converted  to  an  attempt  to  throw  off  the  rule  of 
Spain.  With  all  his  resources,  Philip  was  unable  to  crush 
the  insurrection,  and  it  was  clear  that  interference  from 
England  would  insure  his  defeat. 

Thus  Elizabeth  was  mistress  of  the  situation.  Danger 
from  France  could  always  be  averted  by  strengthening  the 
Huguenots.  The  possibility  of  an  alliance  between  Eng- 
land and  his  Dutch  subjects  served  to  hold  Philip  in 
check. 

Some  of  the  royal  ministers  and  a  large  party  in  the  nation 
were  opposed  to  this  opportunist  policy.  They  desired  that 
Elizabeth  should  commit  herself  to  the  Protestant  cause,  by 
frankly  taking  sides  with  the  French  Huguenots  and  the  re- 
volted Netherlanders.  Moreover,  they  felt  that  the  safety 
of  England  required  the  queen's  marriage  with  a  Protestant 
and  the  settlement  of  the  succession.  To  such  a  course 
Elizabeth  was  steadily  opposed.  She  preferred  the  tortuous 
methods  of  diplomacy  to  open,  direct  dealings.  Policy  for- 
bade her  to  wed  the  only  suitor  for  whom  she  cared,  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  one  of  her  own  subjects.  Moreover,  she 
realized  that  her  marriage  with  a  Protestant  would  at  once 
precipitate  a  crisis  by  making  the  Catholics  desperate. 


BOPHAY  &  C0.,ENSR>6,N.>U 


256 


TJic   Tiidors  and  the  Reformation 


I'hirty-nine 
Articles. 


Test  Act, 
1562. 

Green, 

PP-  389-392. 


Catholic 
plots. 


Creighton, 
Age  of 
Elizabeth, 
pp.  126-130. 
Bright,  II, 
567-569. 


The 
Puritans. 


Enforcement  of  Uniformity.  —  At  first  Elizabeth  had 
moved  cautiously  in  her  ecclesiastical  policy,  but  the  men- 
acing attitude  of  the  Catholic  powers  led  to  increased 
rigor  toward  the  English  Romanists.  In  1563,  acceptance 
of  thirty-nine  of  the  forty-two  articles  promulgated  under 
Edward  VI  was  deinanded  of  the  clergy.  The  Act  of  Uni- 
formity was  more  stringently  enforced,  and  by  the  Test  Act 
of  1562,  the  first  in  a  long  series  of  penal  statutes  against 
the  Catholics,  the  oath  of  supremacy  was  required  of  all 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

About  1569  the  Catholic  resistance  came  to  a  head.  The 
failure  of  Mary  Stuart  in  Scotland  and  the  backwardness  of 
the  great  orthodox  powers  helped  to  throw  matters  into 
the  hands  of  the  people.  In  1569  the  Earls  of  Westmore- 
land and  Northumberland  formed  a  plot  to  put  Mary  Stuart 
in  Elizabeth's  place  and  to  restore  Catholicism.  Their 
scheme  found  support  in  the  north,  but  the  rising  was  easily 
quelled.  In  1570  the  Pope  issued  a  bull  excommunicating 
Elizabeth,  and  two  years  later  a  new  conspiracy  against  the 
queen  was  hatched.  The  object  of  the  Ridolfi  plot  was,  as 
before,  the  overthrow  of  Elizabeth  and  Protestantism.  It 
was  discovered  in  time  by  Cecil's  spies,  and  the  leading 
Cathohc  noble,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who,  in  case  of  suc- 
cess, was  to  have  married  Mary  Stuart,  was  put  to  death. 

Religious  disturbance  was  not  all  from  the  Cathohc  party. 
Many  of  the  people  felt  that  the  queen  had  not  gone  far 
enough  in  the  reform  of  the  Church.  They  had  no  thought 
of  separating  from  the  establishment,  and  at  first  there  was 
little  objection  to  Episcopaxy,  but  they  desired  greater  sim- 
plicity of  worship  and  a  preaching  ministry.  The  strict  en- 
forcement of  the  Act  of  Uniformity  after  1565  forced  the 
Puritans,  as  they  were  called,  into  forming  a  definite  party, 
and  led  to  attempts  on  their  part  to  establish  their  own 
meetings  outside  the  Church.  But  they  found  no  favor  with 
the  government.  Their  conventicles  were  suppressed,  and 
the  "  prophesyings  "  or  meetings  of  the  Puritan  clergy  were 
prohibited.     The  bishops  were  the  chief  instrument  through 


TIw  Crisis  of  the  Reign  257 

which  the  government  acted,  and  there  grew  up  in  conse- 
quence  a   feehng   of  hostiUty  to   Episcopacy,   which    was 
strengthened  by  the  growth  of  Presbyterianism  in  Scotland. 
In   1571,  Cartwright,  Professor  of   Divinity  at  Cambridge,    Green, 
in    two    addresses    to   Parliament,    attacked    the   episcopal   PP- 467-469. 
organization  as  well  as  the  prayer  book  ceremonial.     The 
Puritans  were  not  representative  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,    Green, 
but  they  were  intelligent  and  active,  and  they  exerted  an   pp.  460-464. 
influence  out  of  proportion  to  their  numbers. 

The  Crisis   of  the  Reign.  —  For  more  than  thirty  years 
Elizabeth   succeeded   in   keeping   peace,  and  while   other 
countries  were  wasted  by  war  or  torn  with  religious  strife, 
England  grew  prosperous  and  strong.      War  had  been  so 
long  averted  only  because  Philip  II,  no  less  than  Elizabeth,   Green, 
was  a  sincere  lover  of  peace.     Fear  of  France,  the  financial   pp-  411-415- 
straits  of  Spain,  his  own  inclinations,  all   led  him  to  avoid  source-Book, 
war.     Spanish  ships  were  plundered  on  every  sea  by  Eng-  pp.  184, 185. 
Hsh  privateers,    England    gave   aid   and   sympathy  to   the 
Dutch  and  opened  her  doors  to  the  religious  refugees ;    still 
the  Spanish  king's  instructions  to  his  ambassadors  were  to 
strive  to  preserve  Elizabeth's  friendship. 

But  circumstances  were  gradually  forcing  the  two  coun-   Creighton, 
tries  into  war.     The  Papacy  was  becoming  aggressive.     In   ^S^  "/ 

,  .,  f ,     *"=         ^      ,        ,     Elizabeth, 

1579  an  attempt  was  made  to   strike  a  blow  at   England   pp.  iqc-irs. 
through  Ireland,  where  the  people  were  Catholic  and  dis-   Green, 
afi'ected.     A  little  later  it  became  plain  that  influences  were   PP-  405-410, 
at  work  to  build  up  a  Catholic  party  in  Scotland.     A  well- 
organized  plan  was  at  length  developed  for  the  reconversion 
of  England.     In  1580  two   Jesuit   missionaries   landed  in 
England,  and  others  soon  followed.     In  various  disguises 
they  wandered  about  the  country,  reviving  the  zeal  of  the 
Catholic  party.     Their  success  was  great,  and  there  seemed 
to  be  danger  that  they  might  undo  all  that  had  been  gained 
by  Elizabeth's  policy  of  compromise.     Persecution  was  re- 
newed.   Jesuits  were  made  liable  to  the  penalties  of  treason, 
and  all  harboring  them  were  declared   rebels.     Catholics 
were  commanded  to  recall  their  children  from  the  Continent. 


80  60  40  so 


40  M 


THE  SPANISH  EMPIRE 

REION    OF  PHILIP   II 

Spanish  territory L J 


80       West  60 


40    Longitude     20  from         0    Greenwich    20 


40        East        60 

BOBIIAY  1  to.j  ENOB'S,  K.Xr 


TJie  Crisis  of  the  Reign  259 

The  fines  for  recusancy  ^  were  increased  to  ;^20  a  month. 
In  1584  a  Catholic  plot  to  remove  Elizabeth  by  assassina- 
tion  and  put    Mary  in  her  place,  was  discovered.      The   Creighton, 
reality  of  the  danger  that  threatened  the  queen  was  shown   ^^S^  °f 
by  the  murder  of  William    of  Orange,  in   this  same  year.   nn'T=;8^-i6o 
The  Catholics  stood  now  in  open  hostility.     Still  Elizabeth 
was  unwilling  to  throw  in  her  lot  decidedly  with  the  Protes- 
tants of  the  Continent,  and  in  1585  she  refused  to  accept  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Dutch  States. 

On  the  Continent  the  course  of  affairs  was  turning  against   Creighton. 
the  reformers.      In   1584,   by  the  death   of  the   Duke  of  "^jfy^, 
Alengon,  Henry  of  Navarre,  head  of  the  Huguenots,  became   pp/i6i-i66. 
heir  to  the  French  crown.     The  extreme  Catholic  element, 
led  by  the  Guises,  at  once  took  alarm,  and  formed  an  alli- 
ance with  Spain  with  the  avowed  object  of  excluding  Prot- 
estants from  the  French  throne  and  extirpating  Protestantism 
throughout  Spanish  and  French  territory.    When  Henry  III, 
the  French  king,  finally  decided  to   throw  in  his  lot  with 
the  League,^  the  fate  of  the  Huguenots  seemed  sealed. 

At  the  same  time  the  position  of  the  Netherlanders  was 
becoming  desperate.  Everywhere  the  Spanish,  under  Parma, 
the  greatest  general  of  the  century,  were  gaining  ground. 
Unless  Elizabeth  would  see  the  Dutch  revolt  crushed  she 
must  send  aid.  In  1585  English  troops  under  Leicester 
landed  in  Holland. 

Elizabeth  was  no  longer  mistress  of  the  situation,  and  her  Green, 
peace  poHcy  was  breaking  down.  Her  own  subjects  were  PP-  ■+i5-4i7' 
forcing  her  hand  ;  they  longed  "  to  have  a  good,  severe,  open 
war  with  Spain,  as  the  only  road  to  an  honorable  settle- 
ment." The  discovery  at  this  juncture  of  Babington's 
conspiracy,  a  formidable  plot  organized  by  some  of  the 
Catholics  to  assassinate  Elizabeth  and  place  Mary  Stuart  on 
the  throne,  forced  the  government  to  act  with  decision  and 
sealed  the  fate  of  the  queen  of  Scots.     For  eighteen  years 

1  Recusants  were  those  who  refused  to  attend  the  services  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church. 

2  The  alliance  between  the  Guises  and  Spain  was  known  as  the  League. 


26o 


The   Tiidors  and  the  Reformation 


Mary  had  been  held  a  prisoner  in  England,  the  centre  of 
Catholic  intrigue.  It  was  now  urged  that  the  only  way  of 
saving  Elizabeth's  life  was  to  destroy  the  woman  whose  con- 
tinued existence  gave  encouragement  to  plans  of  assassina- 
tion. With  unfeigned  reluctance  Elizabeth  signed  the  death 
warrant,  and  on  February  8,  1587,  Mary  was  beheaded. 

The  Armada.  —  Mary's  death  made  it  possible  for  England 
to  meet  Spain  with  a  united  front.  For  some  time  Philip 
had  been  planning  an  invasion  of  England.  In  1588  the 
preparations  were  complete,  and  the  "  Invincible  Armada," 
a  fleet  of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  vessels,  set  sail  for  the 
English  coast.  With  her  usual  parsimony  and  dilatoriness, 
Elizabeth  had  delayed  taking  measures  for  defence.  The 
royal  navy  contained  but  thirty-eight  ships  all  told,  most  of 
them  small  and  ill  equipped.  But  private  enterprise  made 
good  the  royal  shortcomings,  and  the  men  of  every  port 
sent  their  best  ships  well  manned  to  fight  the  Spaniards. 
The  great  enterprise  ended  in  disaster.  Parma  and  his 
troops  from  the  Netherlands  failed  to  efifect  a  union  with 
the  fleet.  The  superior  seamanship  of  the  English  made  it 
possible  for  them  to  harass  and  destroy  many  of  the  Span- 
ish ships  while  avoiding  the  general  engagement  which  they 
dared  not  risk.  A  terrible  storm  rendered  unmanageable 
the  unwieldy  galleons  of  the  Spaniards,  and  they  were  driven 
upon  unfriendly  coasts  and  lost.  Of  the  great  fleet  but 
fifty-four  ships  lived  to  return  to  Spain.  England's  danger 
was  averted. 

Ireland  under  the  Tudors.  —  In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  the 
conquest  of  Ireland  v/as  at  last  made  real.  For  more  than 
three  centuries  England  had  held  nominal  sway  over  the  sister 
island,  but  outside  the  Pale  Enghsh  authority  was  scarcely 
recognized.  The  Irish  had  even  regained  part  of  the  terri- 
tory that  they  had  lost.  The  English  government  was  too 
poor  and  too  weak  to  efifect  a  real  conquest,  and  it  strove  to 
control  Ireland  through  the  influence  of  some  native  chief. 
During  a  short  period  of  quiet  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII, 
Sir  Edward  Poyning  was  sent  over  to  negotiate  a  settlement, 


10  

IIIELA]ST> 

IN  THE  16th  century 

SCALE  OF  ENGLISH  MILES 


9  Lon^tude 


West  from        7  Greenwich  6 


aORyAY  4  CO.iENSR'SjN.r. 


262  TJie   Tudoi's  and  the  Reformation 

and  he  succeeded  in  inducing  the  Irish  ParUament  to  pass 
an  act  called  Poyning's  Law,  by  which  its  legislative  de- 
pendence upon  the  king  of  England  and  his  council  was 
acknowledged. 

The  progress  of  the  Reformation  in  England  increased 
the  difficulties  of  the  Irish  situation.  Protestantism  had 
made  no  headway  in  Ireland,  but  Henry  VIII  had  used 
tact  in  his  dealings  with  the  Irish  chiefs,  and  the  Royal 
Supremacy  was  generally  acknowledged.  Under  Edward 
VI  the  reformed  Church  was  established  by  law,  but 
nothing  was  done  to  educate  the  people  in  the  reformed 
faith.  The  Bible  was  not  translated  into  the  native  tongue, 
and  the  services  were  read  in  English.  Under  Elizabeth 
the  same  course  was  pursued.  The  result  was  to  connect 
Protestantism  with  an  alien  and  hated  rule  and  to  attach 
the  Irish  strongly  to  the  ancient  Church. 

Unfortunately  a  new  cause  for  trouble  appeared  at  this 
time.  The  plan  of  conquering  Ireland  by  colonizing  dis- 
affected districts  with  English  settlers  was  first  tried  under 
Mary,  and  the  idea  was  eagerly  caught  up  by  the  adventur- 
ous, money-getting  spirit  of  the  next  reign.  An  insurrection 
among  the  native  Irish  of  Ulster  in  1565  forced  the  EngHsh 
government  to  turn  its  attention  seriously  to  the  problem  of 
pacifying  the  country.  The  rebellion  of  Shane  O'Neill  was 
easily  suppressed,  but  it  led  to  the  formation  of  plans  for 
the  planting  of  Munster  with  English  settlers.  Fear  of 
being  driven  from  the  land  roused  the  Irish  to  fury.  A 
succession  of  insurrections  in  Munster,  Ulster,  and  Con- 
naught  followed.  The  interference  of  the  Catholic  powers 
of  the  Continent  increased  the  danger  of  the  situation,  and 
it  was  not  until  1584,  after  fifteen  years  of  warfare  marked 
by  terrible  atrocities  on  both  sides,  that  the  English  authority 
was  reestablished  and  order  restored. 

But  the  grounds  for  discontent  were  too  deep  rooted  to 
be  easily  removed.  Race  hostiUty  combined  with  rehgious 
feeling  and  fear  for  their  lands  to  keep  disaffection  alive 
among  the  Irish.     In  1597  the  O'Neills,  led  by  the  Earl  of 


Close  of  Elizabeth  's  Reign  263 

Tyrone,  broke  out  in  revolt.     The  Earl  of  Essex,  Leicester's    Tyrone's 
stepson,  was  sent  over  with  a  large  army,  but  his  expedition    ^^^^^^'^o^- 
was  a  failure.    The  Spanish  came  to  Tyrone's  aid,  and  it  was 
not  until  1602  that  the  rebellion  was  crushed.    The  conquest 
of  Ireland  seemed  at  last  complete.     The  leaders  had  been    , 
cut  off,  every  rising  had  been  followed  by  confiscations,  and 
half  the  gentry  had  been  dispossessed.     The  land  was  deso- 
late and  the  people  were  filled  with  bitterest  hatred  toward 
the  English. 

Close  of  Elizabeth's  Reign.  —  The  destruction  of  the  Ar- 
mada was  the  turning-point  in  Elizabeth's  reign.  One  by  one 
the  dangers  which  beset  her  when  she  ascended  the  throne 
had  cleared  away.  Although  the  war  with  Spain  still  dragged 
on,  there  was  no  fear  of  a  second  invasion.  In  1593  Henry 
of  Navarre,  the  Huguenot  leader,  became  king  of  France. 
In  Scotland,  James  VI  was  looking  forward  hopefully  to 
succeed  Elizabeth  on  the  throne  and  guided  his  course  in 
accordance  with  her  wishes. 

Domestic  dangers  had  been  overcome  by  the  queen's  mod-    Bright,  ii, 
eration  and  by  her  broad,  national  treatment  of  the  religious  5^^.  57o- 
question.      At  the  time  of  the  Armada,   patriotic   feeling 
triumphed  and  the  Catholics  remained  loyal,  refusing  to  take 
advantage  of  the  difficulties  of  the  government.     Many  of 
them  found  their  way  into  the  Anglican  Church  and  formed 
the  nucleus  of  the  High  Church  party  of  the  next  reign.   The 
queen  persisted  in  refusing  all  concessions  to  the  Puritans.  Green, 
The  Court  of  High  Commission,  permanently  organized  in  PP-  470-474- 
1583  to  exercise  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of  the  crown, 
took  severe  measures   to  repress  nonconformity.      It  was 
impossible,  however,  to  put  down  the  Puritans.     They  were 
a  strong  element  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  found  sup- 
port even  in  the  Privy  Council.     Persecution  only  increased 
their  activity.     A  vigorous  pamphlet  war  was  carried  on 
against  what  they  held  to  be  abuses  in  the  Church.^     Some 
of  the  extreme  Protestants  carried  their  views  so  far  as  to 

1  A  series  of  tracts,  signed  Martin  Marprelate,  attacked  the  bishops 
violently,  causing  great  excitement. 


264 


The   Tudors  and  the  Reformation 


The  Inde- 
pendents. 


Green, 

pp.  401-405. 


Political 
Orations, 
Camelot 
Series. 


Creighton, 
A^e  of 
Elizabeth, 
pp.  228,  229. 


separate  from  the  Church,  and  form  the  Brownist  or  Inde- 
pendent sect ;  but  in  the  main,  although  desirous  of  certain 
changes,  they  supported  the  Episcopal  establishment. 

In  political  matters,  a  good  understanding  existed  between 
the  queen  and  her  subjects.     The  administration  was  eco- 
nomical ;  Parliament  responded  cheerfully,  as  a  rule,  to  the 
royal  demands  for  suppUes.     In  1601  an  attack  was  made 
on  the  assumed  power  of  the  crown  to  grant  monopolies.^ 
This  was  an  important  source  of  revenue,  but  the  House 
made  a  determined  stand,  and  the  queen  gave  way  with 
dignity.     It  was  plain  that  a  spirit  of  independence  was 
growing.     Parliament,  at  the  close  of  the   century,  was  a 
very  different  body  from  the  Parliament  that  Henry  VIII 
had  used  to  carry  out  his  will  under  constitutional  forms. 
The  Upper  House  had  gained  by  the  substitution  of  a  lay 
for  a  spiritual  majority  after  the  dissolution  of  the  monas- 
teries, yet  the  new  nobility,  of  which  it  was  largely  com- 
posed, was  still  subservient  to  the  crown  and  rarely  opposed 
the  royal  will,  —  but  in  the  House  of  Commons  there  was 
great  change.     Constant  employment  in  important  business, 
even  though  as  a  tool,  had  given  it  experience  and  confidence. 
A  powerful  middle  class,  wealthy,  intelligent,  and  trained  in 
the  conduct  of  local  affairs,  had  sprung  up  in  the  towns  and 
in  the  country,  and  now  formed  the  strongest  element  in 
the  Lower  House.     Lawyers  had  become   numerous  and 
influential.      Puritan   feeling,  the  new  spirit  of  enterprise, 
increased   foreign   intercourse,    all    combined    to    give    the 
Commons  a  bolder  temper  and  greater  breadth  of  view.^ 
The  discipline  of  a  century  was  bearing  fruit. 

In  1603  the  old  queen  died.  With  masculine  intellect 
and  womanly  devotion  she  had  labored  in  the  service  of  the 

1  The  exclusive  right  of  trading  in  some  article  of  commerce. 

2  Until  the  sixteenth  century  local  residence  was  required  of  shire  and 
borough  representatives.  Under  the  Tudors  this  requirement  was  con- 
stantly evaded,  and  was  repealed  in  1571  as  regards  burgesses.  This 
change  had  the  effect  of  bringing  into  Parliament  a  more  independent  and 
intelligent  class  of  men.  During  this  century  the  practice  of  paying  mem- 
bers died  out. 


Close  of  Elizabeth's  Reign 


265 


nation,  sacrificing  personal  happiness  to  its  interests,'  and 
she  spoke  from  the  heart  in  her  last  words  to  the  Commons  : 
"Though  you  have  had,  and  may  have  many  princes  Green, 
more  mighty  and  wise  sitting  in  this  seat,  yet  you  never  PP-  45".  459- 
had,  or  ever  shall  have,  any  that  will  be  more  careful  and 
loving."  Under  Elizabeth  the  power  of  the  Tudor  mon- 
archy reached  its  height.  Her  rule  was  a  national  rule,  for 
what  was  true  of  Henry  VIII  was  even  truer  of  his  great 
daughter.  The  strength  of  the  throne  lay  not  in  wealth  or 
force,  but  in  the  national  support  given  because  of  the 
people's  confidence  in  their  ruler. 


Elizabeth's  Cradle 

Winter,  Shakespeare's  England 


Important  Events 

Reign  of  Henry  VII,  1 485-1 509. 
Alliance  with  Scotland,  1503. 

Reign  of  Henry  VIII,  1 509-1 547. 
War  with  France,  15 12-15 14. 
Fall  of  Wolsey,  1529. 

Long  Parliament  of  the  Reformation,  1 529-1 536. 
Marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn,  1533. 
Separation  from  Rome,  1534- 
The  Six  Articles,  1539. 
Fall  of  Cromwell,  1 540. 


266  The  Ttidors  and  the  Reformation 

Reign  of  Edward  VI,  15471 553- 
War  with  Scotland,  1 547. 
Overthrow  of  Somerset,  1549. 

Reign  of  Mary,  i 553-1 558. 
Marriage  with  Philip,  1554. 
Reunion  with  Rome,  1554. 
Beginning  of  persecution,  1555. 
Loss  of  Calais,  1558. 

Reign  of  Elizabeth,  i 558-1 603. 

Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity,  1559. 
Overthrow  of  Mary  Stuart,  1567. 
Foundation  of  the  United  Netherlands,  1572. 
Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  1572. 
Arrival  of  Jesuits,  1580. 
Execution  of  Mary  Stuart,  1587. 
Defeat  of  the  Armada,  1588. 


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CHAPTER   IX 

ENGLAND   OF  THE  TUDORS 
Books  for   Consultation 

Sources 

Harrison,  Description  of  England. 
More,  Utopia. 

Payne,  Voyages  of  Elizabethan  Seamen. 
Henderson,  Sidelights,  etc. 

Special  Authorities 

Cunningham,  Alien  Immigrants  to  England. 

Thorold  Rogers,  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages. 

Cunningham  and  MacArthur,  Outlines  of  English  Industrial  History. 

Hewins,  English  Trade  and  Finance. 

Innes,  England  under  the  Tudors. 

Froude,  History  of  England,  Vol.  I,  Ch.  I;  English  Seamen. 

Seeley,  Expansio?t  of  England. 

Traill,  Social  England,  II  and  HI. 

Corbett,  Drake. 

Creighton,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Imaginative  Literature 
Kingsley,  Westward  Ho  / 

The  Transformation  of  England.  —  Modern  England,  a 
great  maritime,  commercial,  and  industrial  power,  began  to 
take  shape  under  the  Tudors.  Social  and  economic  condi- 
tions were  changing,  the  old  mediaeval  industrial  system  was 
breaking  up,  and  trade  and  commerce,  animated  by  a 
keener  and  bolder  spirit,  sought  out  new  channels  of  enter- 
prise. In  the  fifteenth  century  England  was  still  in  the 
main  an  agricultural  country ;    wheat   and   wool   were   her 

268 


TJic   Transfonnation  of  England  269 

staple  crops,  and  she  bore  to  Flanders  the  relation  that 
Australia  now  bears  to  the  mother  country.  By  1600  wool 
was  forbidden  to  be  sent  abroad,  and  woollen  cloth  had  be- 
come an  important  article  of  export.' 

When  the  first  Tudor  ascended  the  throne,  a  royal  navy 
scarcely  existed,  and  much  of  England's  carrying  trade 
was  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  The  defeat  of  the  Armada 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  paved  the  way  for  the  ultimate 
maritime  and  commercial  supremacy  of  England.  Fore-  Causes  foi 
most  amongst  the  causes  for  these  changes  was  the  dis-  ^'^'ing^- 
covery  of  the  New  World.  Trade  with  America  became 
important,  and  England's  position  to  the  west  of  Flurope 
gave  her  at  once  a  superiority  over  all  rivals.  The  reli- 
gious conflicts  of  the  Continent,  resulting  as  they  did  in 
the  disturbance  of  trade  and  industry  there,  redounded 
greatly  to  England's  advantage.  The  order  and  peace 
of  England  under  Tudor  rule  attracted  capital,  and  the 
greater  liberty  of  worship  brought  to  her  shores  religious 
refugees,  who  enriched  the  kingdom  with  their  industry 
and  skill. 

Nor  should  the  effect  of  the  policy  of  the  crown  be 
overlooked.  The  Tudor  rule  was  despotic,  but  it  was  at 
least  paternal.  The  statute  books  of  the  century  testify 
to  the  unwearying  interest  of  the  government  in  the 
welfare  of  the  people  and  in  the  development  of 
national  wealth.  No  aspect  of  industry  was  overlooked. 
Agriculture,  commerce,  manufacture,  each  received  atten- 
tion. Encouragement  was  given  to  new  enterprises,  efforts 
were  made  to  stimulate  decaying  industries.  Exports 
and  imports  were  regulated,  prices  were  fixed,  and  the 
character  and  quality  of  goods  to  be  manufactured  were 
prescribed.  Wages  were  determined  by  law  and  the  con- 
ditions of  service  settled  by  the  government  in  minute 
detail.  The  records  of  the  first  session  of  Elizabeth's 
second    Parliament  illustrate  the   all-pervading   activity  of 

1  Exportation  of  woollen  cloth  amounted  to  5000  pieces  in  1354,  to 
120,000  pieces  in  1547. 


270 


England  of  the    Tiidors 


the  State.  On  the  same  page  stand  acts  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  tillage,  for  the  regulation  of  artificers,  laborers,  and 
apprentices,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  navy  and  fisheries,  for 
the  exclusion  of  divers  foreign  wares,  and  against  the  carrying 
of  sheepskins  and  pelts  out  of  tlie  kingdom.  Everywhere 
the  State  interfered  to  direct  individual  enterprise. 

The   Agricultural    Revolution.  —  \x\  the    latter   part    of 


"^^m^ 


Trail],  II, 

544-550 ; 

III, 

114-118, 

239-241. 

351-359. 

533-535- 

Source-Book, 
188-193. 


Old  London  Bridge 

Marck,  Konigin  Elizabeth 

the  fifteenth  century  sheep-raising  had  become  very  prof- 
itable, because  of  the  great  demand  for  English  wool 
and  the  high  prices  paid  for  it.  There  resulted  a  strong 
tendency  to  the  formation  of  great  sheep  farms,  and 
estates  were  rapidly  converted  from  tillage  to  pasture. 
As  land  became  increasingly  valuable  the  commons  were 
enclosed,  and  the  open  fields,  the  arable  lands  tilled  by 
the  villagers,  were  not  infrequently  seized  by  the  lord 
under   a   strained    interpretation    of    his    property   rights. 


Ac/ion   of   the    Govcniuicnt  271 

Evictions  of  the  peasants  became  frequent;  houses,  whole   Bright,  11, 

villages  even,  were  torn  down,  and  the  fields  were  turned   -^7°,  471- 

into    sheepwalks.      'J'he    report    of    a    royal    Commission 

of  Inquiry  in    15 17  gave  many  instances  of  villages  made    Enclosures. 

desolate.       "All    the    houses    of    liurton    Lazars    in    the 

same   vill   (Choysell)   are   laid  waste,  and    the    inhabitants 

have   departed ;    and    there    belong    to   the   same    houses 

300   acres   of    land,    whereof    40   are   ploughed,    but    the 

rest   are   in   pasture ;    and    by    this    downfall,   the   church 

has  f:dlen  into  ruins." 

Effect  upon  Agricultural  Classes.  —  These  changes  brought 
profit  to  the  landlords  and  to  yeomen  holding  land  in  their 
own  right,  but  they  entailed  great  suffering  on  the  cottagers 
and  small  tenant  farmers.  Rents  were  raised  and  at  the 
same  time  the  rights  of  common  pasture  were  cut  off. 
Moreover,  work  became  scarce,  for  one  man  was  now  em- 
ployed where  formerly  the  labor  of  many  was  required. 
"For  whereas,"  wrote  Latimer,  "have  been  a  great  many 
householders  and  inhabitants,  there  is  now  but  a  shepherd 
and  his  dog."  Sir  Thomas  More,  in  his  Utopia,  voiced  the 
popular  grievance  :  "  Sheep,"  he  declared,  "  become  so 
great  devourers  and  so  wild  that  they  eat  up  and  swallow 
down  the  very  men  themselves.  They  consume,  destroy, 
and  devour  whole  fields,  houses,  and  citizens."  The 
small  holders  were  ruined,  and  many  of  them  became 
homeless  wanderers,  swelling  the  ranks  of  paupers  and 
vagabonds. 

Action  of  the  Government.  —  The  government  recog-  Legislation, 
nized  the  evil  of  this  state  of  things  and  strove  to  meet 
it  by  legislation.  It  was  decreed  that  no  man  should 
keep  more  than  two  thousand  sheep,  and  at  the  disso- 
lution of  the  monasteries  a  statute  was  passed  requiring 
the  new  owners  to  "  occupy  yearly  as  much  of  the  same 
demesnes  in  ploughing  and  tillage  of  husbandry  ...  as 
hath  been  commonly  used."  But  these  measures  availed 
litde,  and  as  late  as  1597  Parliament  was  still  legislat- 
ing  against   enclosures.     The  money-making   spirit  of  the 


2/2 


England  of  the   Tiidors 


age  was  too  strong  to  be  controlled.  By  fraud  and  petty 
persecution  the  small  men  were  driven  off  the  land.  It 
was  a  common  practice  to  run  a  single  furrow  over  a  field 
and  then  declare  it  ploughed.  Hales,  a  contemporary 
writer,  speaks  of  men  "fathering  sheep  on  children  and 
servants,"  thus  keeping  within  the  limit  f)f  the  law.     "I'he 


View   in   Great  Friar's  Street,  Worcester 

Britton,  Picturesque  Antiquities  of  the  English  Cities 


evil  continued  until  the  beginning  of  the  next  century,  when 
the  diminished  value  of  wool  and  the  high  prices  of  meat 
and  grain  brought  about  a  change  and  led  to  the  conver- 
sion of  pasture  lands  back  to  tillage. 

The  Decay  of  Towns. — Not  alone  in  the  country  were 
great  changes  taking  place.  Side  by  side  with  laws  which 
point  to  the  miserable  condition  of  the  rural  population 
are  others  that  would  seem  to  indicate  the  decay  of  industry 


TJie  Decay  of  Towns 


273 


and  trade  and  the  impoverishment  of  the  towns.  Many 
anciently  important  places  lost  in  population  and  wealth 
during  this  period. 

The  decay  of  towns  was  chiefly  due  to  the  ill-judged 
monopoly  of  the  gilds,  which  discouraged  new  enterprises 
in  the  districts  they  controlled.  The  usefulness  of  the  gild 
system  was  gone;  it  no  longer  served  its  original  purpose, 
since  the  societies  had  become  narrow  corporations.  Mem-  The  Gilds, 
bership  was  restricted  to  the  sons  of  members  or  to  such 
outsiders  as  could  pay  heavily  for  the  privilege,  hence  it 
was  no  longer  possible  for  the  average  journeyman  to  be- 
come a  master  craftsman.  The  general  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment was  to  strengthen  the  gilds  while  bringing  them 
under  local  control,  but  the  increasing  activity  of  trade 
was  inconsistent  with  the  antiquated  regulations,  and  labor 
and  capital  turned  to  the  rural  districts  and  to  towns  where 
the  old  system  of  restriction  had  never  been  authorized. 
Thus  while  old  centres  of  industry  fell  into  decay,  new  vil- 
lages, such  as  Manchester  and  Sheffield  and  Birmingham, 
were  becoming  rich  and  important. 

Growth  of  Manufactures.  —  Manufactures  steadily  gained 
in  importance  under  the  Tudors.  The  government  was 
unremitting  in  its  endeavors  to  promote  an  interest  so  Protection, 
favorable  to  national  prosperity,  and  did  what  it  could 
to  foster  domestic  industry.  The  export  of  materials  that 
could  be  manufactured  at  home  was  forbidden  and  the  con- 
sumption of  English  goods  was  enforced  by  statute.  In 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth  it  was  enacted  that  every  person, 
except  ladies,  peers,  and  a  few  others,  should  "on  Sundays 
and  Holidays  wear  on  their  Head  a  Cap  of  Wool  made  in 
England." 

The  manufacturing  interest  owed  less,  however,  to  legis- 
lation than  to  the  steady  hospitality  which  the  government 
extended  to  the  persecuted  of  other  lands.     In  the  latter 
part  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII  there  began  an  immigra-   Immigra- 
tion of  religious  refugees  which  continued  for  more  than  a     ^°°' 
century  and  a  half.     These  refugees,  who  came  chiefly  from 

T 


274  England  of  tJic   Tiidors 

France  and  the  Netherlands,  were  usually  skilled  workmen, 
and  they  introduced  many  new  and  important  industries, 
such  as  the  making  of  lace,  thread,  needles,  paper,  fustian, 
and  silk.  The  foreign  craftsmen  were  most  numerous  in 
the  eastern  counties,  but  they  settled  in  many  parts  of  the 
country.  They  sometimes  took  possession  of  abandoned 
monastic  buildings.  About  1544  Flemings  and  Walloons 
swarmed  into  England  and  established  at  Norwich  the  silk 
industry,  the  source  of  the  later  prosperity  of  that  region. 
Sheffield  owed  the  great  improvement  in  its  cutlery  to  the 
same  source,  while  at  the  fall  of  Antwerp,  one-third  of  the 
merchants  and  manufacturers  of  that  city  came  to  London. 
Spite  of  the  political  complications  that  the  reception  of 
these  exiles  occasionally  caused,  the  attitude  of  the  govern- 
ment was  usually  friendly.  Sometimes  immigration  was  op- 
posed by  the  jealousy  of  the  English,  but  as  a  rule  its  value 
was  recognized,  and  several  towns  petitioned  the  govern- 
ment to  have  strangers  allotted  them. 
Green,  Favored  by  political  and  economic  conditions,  manufac- 

P-  394-  tures  took   a  vigorous   start.     The    eastern   counties   were 

noted  for  their  worsteds  and  fine  cloth,  and  even  the  back- 
ward north  felt  the  effect  of  the  new  spirit  and  developed 
its  own  special  line  of  friezes  and  rough  goods.  Silk 
weaving,  the  making  of  felt  hats,  the  manufacture  of 
ordnance,  —  all  became  industries  of  national  impor- 
tance, employing  many  hands  and  adding  wealth  to  the 
country. 

The  Royal  Navy.  —  It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  English 
sovereigns  to  own  but  few  ships,  but  to  depend  in  time  of 
war  upon  vessels  furnished  by  the  Cinque  Ports  ^  in  accord- 
ance with  their  charters,  and  on  vessels  impressed  for  the 
occasion. 

Henry  VII  did  something  to  strengthen  the  royal  fleet, 
and  Henry  VIII  still  more.  The  latter  king  organized  the 
navy  as  a  standing  force,  and  from  this  time  the  names  of 
great  admirals   appear   side    by  side   with    those    of  great 

1  The  Cinque  Ports  were  Sandwich,  Dover,  Hythe,  Romney,  and  Hastings. 


The  Royal  Navy 


275 


The  pride  of  Henry's  fleet  was  the  Henri  Grace   Traill,  II, 


In  this  magnificent  vessel  the  king  sailed  from   ^^^^' 


generals. 
a  Die  II. 

Dover  to  meet  Francis  on  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  (iold.    458I462. 
Henry  increased  the  navy  to  seventy  vessels,  but  under  his  470472. 
successors  it  declined.     'I'he  loss  of  Calais,  although  in  the 
end   a   great   relief    to    England,   was    an    immediate   in- 
jury   to    her    maritime    position.       Elizabeth,    thrifty    here 
as  everywhere,  was  unwillmg   to  spend  upon  a  navy.      Of 


The  Ship  Henri  Grace  a  Dieu 

Cumberland,   The  Story  of  the   Union  Jack 

the  vessels  that  went  out  to  meet  the  Armada,  only  about 
thirty  belonged  to  the  State.  Toward  the  close  of  Eliza- 
beth's reign  the  royal  navy  was  increased  somewhat  by  cap- 
tures from  the  Spanish  and  by  a  few  new  ships.^  Although 
the  government  did  little  directly  to  build  up  a  navy,  yet 
it  made  some  effort  to  foster  the  fisheries,  as  the  best  school 
for  seamanship.  Early  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  a  statute  Source-Book 
was  passed  making  the  eating  of  flesh  on  Friday  and  Satur-  ^53.  154- 
day  a  misdemeanor,  in  order  to  create  a  market  for  fish 
and  so  forward  the  "increase  of  fishermen  and  mariners." 

1  The  largest  and  finest  British-built  ship  of  the  century  was  the  Triumph, 
of  about  1 100  tonnage. 


2/6 


England  of  the   Tudors 


Froude,  Hist, 
of  England, 
ch.  IX. 


The  Cabots. 


Merchant 
Companies. 


Exploration  and  Commerce.  —  Henry  VII  was  quick  to 
see  what  would  increase  tlie  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the 
country,  and  he  did  much  to  advance  commerce  and  the 
carrying  trade.  He  made  commercial  treaties  with  Den- 
mark and  Florence  and  Flanders.  The  treaty  with  Flanders, 
"The  Great  Intercourse"  (1496),  provided  for  free  trade 
"in  all  commodities  to  each  other's  ports  without  pass  or 
license,"  and  Henry  caused  it  to  be  sent  to  all  the  great 
towns  in  England,  that  the  mayor  might  affix  to  it  the  seal 
of  the  city  "for  equality  and  stableness  of  the  matter." 
Laws  were  also  passed  for  the  encouragement  of  the  carry- 
ing trade.  Henry's  example  was  followed  to  some  extent 
by  his  successors,  but  the  results  were  not  great.  In  1573 
the  burden  of  all  shipping  engaged  in  the  regular  trade  was 
less  than  fifty  thousand  tons. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  commercial  enterprise  was 
closely  connected  with  exploration  and  adventure,  and 
Englishmen  seemed  loath  to  venture  forth  upon  untravelled 
ways.  England's  first  great  achievement  in  the  exploration 
of  the  New  World  was  undertaken  by  foreigners.  John  and 
Sebastian  Cabot  were  Genoese  sailors  who  made  voyages 
along  the  east  coast  of  North  America  under  the  auspices 
of  Henry  VII,  and  so  claimed  the  land  for  the  English 
king.  John  Cabot  returned  from  this  famous  enterprise  in 
July,  1497,  and  in  August  the  king's  diary  contains  the  fol- 
lowing entry:  "To  him  that  discovered  the  new  Isle  ;^io/' 
In  spite  of  the  small  cost  to  the  crown  of  these  explora- 
tions, the  Cabots  met  with  little  encouragement,  and  in 
15 12  Sebastian  left  the  English  service  not  to  return  until 
the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  He  was  then  induced  to  accept 
an  office  created  for  him,  that  of  "  Governor  of  the  Mystery 
and  Company  of  the  Merchant  Adventures  for  the  Discov- 
ery of  Regions,  Dominions,  Islands  and  Places  unknown." 
In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  commerce  slowly  developed. 
Merchant  companies  were  formed  to  secure  a  share  in  the 
trade  of  foreign  lands.  The  Russia  Company  was  founded 
in  1566,  and  the  Turkey  Company  in  1581,  but  the  most 


Exploration  and  Commerce 


277 


important  by  far  of  these  associations  was  the  East  India 
Company,  which  was  incor])orate(l  in  1600,  and  which  was 
to  play  an  important  part  in  English  history  in  the  follow- 
ing centuries. 


Drake 


^""^fC^aiJ^^^/^ 


Under    Elizabeth    many   influences   combined    to    trans-   Green, 
form   the  stay-at-home    English  into  a  nation    of  mariners   PP-  394. 395 
and   explorers.     The  spirit  of  adventure  and   the  love  of 
gain   were    growing.     Also,  England's   cherished    indepen- 


278  .     England  of  the   Tndors 

dence  was  endangered  by  Spain,  and  Spain  was  a  maritime 
state  and  striving  to  liold  a  monopoly  of  the  New  World. 
Thus  England  was  forced  to  build  up  her  power  on  the 
sea.  Moreover,  Spain,  as  the  champion  of  the  Pope,  made 
war  on  Protestant  shipping.  Hence  religious  fervor  and 
patriotism  combined  to  give  something  of  the  character  of  a 
crusade  to  enterprises  that  were  often  little  more  than  buc- 
caneering raids.  The  risks  were  great,  but  the  returns  were 
even  greater,  and  privateering  ^  became  a  favorite  occupa- 
tion for  sea-captains  and  a  profitable  investment  for  capital. 
Elizabeth  favored  the  privateers.  She  liked  daring  and 
adventure  and  delighted  in  achievements  secured  without 
Green,  expense  to  the  crown.     So,  while  the  two  governments  were 

pp.  415-417-  still  formally  at  peace,  Spanish  and  English  sailors  were 
Traill  III  fig^^i^S  on  every  sea,  and  politic  as  might  be  EHzabeth's 
472-475.  '  regrets  for  the  depredations  committed  by  her  subjects,  she 
was  too  wise  to  interfere  with  enterprises  that  increased  the 
national  wealth  and  insured  the  national  defence.  Unchecked, 
therefore,  by  the  government,  irregular  commerce  flourished, 
while  Drake  and  Raleigh  and  Hawkins  and  a  host  of  others 
made  the  name  of  England  famous  throughout  the  world. 
Although  the  general  trend  was  westward,  yet  English  ships 
were  found  on  all  seas,  in  the  Mediterranean  and  in  the 
Pacific,  in  the  China  Sea  and  in  the  Indian  Ocean. 

The  English  Colonies.  —  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Eng- 
land was  the  last  of  the  great  European  states  to  enter  upon 
colonial  enterprise,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  her  attempts  to 
become  a  continental  power  ended  with  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Through  the  voyages  and  explorations  of  the  Cabots 
in  1497  and  1498  the  English  secured  preemptive  right  to 
the  North  American  coast  from  Cape  Breton  to  Albemarle 
Sound.  But  England  was  backward  and  unfortunate  in 
asserting  her  claims.  It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Elizabeth 
that  attempts  were  made  to  secure  a  foothold  in  the  New 
World,  and  then  the  colonization  schemes  of  Frobisher  and 

1  A  privateer  is  an  armed  private  vessel  commissioned  by  a  state  to  make 
war  upon  the  enemy's  commerce. 


TJie  Old  Order  and  the  New  279 

Gilbert  and  Raleigh  all  ended  in  failure.  At  the  close  of  the  six-    Green, 
teenth  century  England  had  no  possessions  outside  of  Europe.    PP-  5os.  506. 

The  Old  Order  and  the  New.  — The  organization  of  society 
in  England  underwent   a   great    transformation  in  the  six-   Traill,  11, 
teenth   century.     The   old   balance    of  classes  had  broken   -457-464. 
down.     The  Reformation  deprived  the  clergy  of  much  of   29-34. 
their  former  power.     They  had  lost  their  predominance  in 
the  House  of  Lords  ;  they  were  no  longer  employed  in  the 
great  offices  of  State.     Their  wealth  and  territorial  influence 
had  vanished,  and,  more  than  all  else,  with  the  Act  of  Su- 
premacy their  independence  was  gone.     The  strongest  class 
of  the  preceding  centuries  was  now  become  the  weakest. 

The  ancient  nobility,  with  their  military  habits,  their  feudal 
traditions,  and  their  great  local  importance,  had  well-nigh 
disappeared.  In  the  north  alone  did  they  retain  something 
of  their  former  power  and  spirit.  The  new  nobility  which 
had  replaced  the  old  were  of  the  official  or  courtier  class ; 
they  owed  their  estates  to  the  crown ;  they  had  little  local 
influence,  and  they  rarely  showed  any  political  energy. 

The  growing  importance  of  the  middle  class  gave  it  an 
influence  in  legislation  equal  to  that  of  the  nobility.  The 
townsmen  were  richer,  more  energetic,  and  more  intelli- 
gent than  ever  before.  Many  families  rose  to  position  and 
influence  through  the  distribution  of  the  monastic  property. 
The  growth  of  trade  and  commerce  created  a  class  of 
wealthy  merchants  eager  to  possess  themselves  of  land  and 
to  found  county  families.  These  different  elements,  bound 
together  by  many  interests,  trained  in  public  work  through 
service  as  justices  of  the  peace,^  and  in  close  touch  with 
outside  concerns,  formed  the  strongest  class  in  the  realm, 
and  furnished  the  basis  of  the  Tudor  power. 

Among  the  lower  classes  diverse  tendencies  were  apparent. 
The  small  landowners,  the  yeomanry,  gained  in  strength,  but 
on  the  other  hand  the  small  tenant  farmers  and  the  laborers 

1  Unpaid  county  officers  appointed  by  the  crown,  with  power  to  main- 
tain order  and  to  administer  justice  in  petty  cases.  The  office  dates  from 
the  reign  of  Richard  I,  the  title  from  the  reign  of  Edward  III. 


28o  England  of  the   Tndors 

underwent  a  season  of  great   misery  and  depression,  and 
many  of  tiiem  were   forced  to  have  recourse  to  charity. 
Bright,  II,  Pauperism  and  Poor  Relief . — Transition   usually    imphes 

468-472.  suffering,  and   it    was    to    be    expected    that  the  disturbed 

industrial  conditions  would  for  a  time  affect  disastrously 
the  working  classes.  The  marked  increase  in  pauperism 
during  the  century  is  therefore  not  surprising. 

One  cause  of  the  evil  is  found  in  the  agricultural  changes. 
Sir  Thomas  More  describes  the  condition  of  those  evicted 
to  make  room  for  sheep  :  "  By  one  means  or  other  .  .  . 
they  must  needs  depart  away.  .  .  .  All  their  household 
stuff  .  .  .  being  suddenly  thrust  out,  they  be  constrained  to 
sell  it  for  a  thing  of  naught.  And  when  they  have  wandered 
abroad  till  that  be  spent,  what  can  they  else  do  but  steal,  or 
else  go  about  a-begging?  and  yet  then  also  they  be  cast  in 
prison  as  vagabonds,  because  they  go  about  and  work  not ; 
whom  no  man  will  set  a  work  though  they  never  so  willingly 
proffer  themselves  thereto."  The  difficulties  of  the  situation 
were  aggravated  by  the  rise  in  prices  due  to  the  issues  of 
debased  coin^  under  Henry  VIII  and  Edward  VI,  and,  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  to  the  influx  of  silver  from  America. 
Moreover,  the  decay  in  husbandry,  combined  with  the  great 
increase  in  the  population,  from  three  millions  in  1485  to  four 
and  one-half  millions  in  1 54  7,  occasioned  a  real  scarcity  of  food. 
In  the  sixteenth  century,  as  now,  side  by  side  with  the 
helpless  poor  were  found  the  worthless  and  the  lazy.  Com- 
plaints were  frequently  made  of  the  "  sturdy  beggars,"  fore- 
runners of  the  modern  tramp,  who  swarmed  over  the  country, 
terrorizing  the  rural  districts.  A  contemporary  writes  of 
them  :  "  If  they  ask  at  a  farmer's  house  his  charity,  they 
will  go  strong  as  three  or  four  in  a  company,  where  for 
fear  more  than  good  will  they  often  have  relief." 

At  first  there  was  no  systematic  attempt  to  cope  with  the 

1  Under  Henry  III  the  coinage  was  systematically  debased  both  in 
weight  and  in  quality.  This  example  was  followed  by  Edward  and  Mary. 
In  1560  Elizabeth  brought  about  the  reestablishment  of  a  sound  currency 
by  calling  in  the  debased  coins,  paying  for  them  in  good  new  money. 


Social  Habits  281 

evil.     Relief  of  the  poor    was    originally  a  function  of  the    Traill,  Social 
Church,  especially  of  the  monasteries.     The  dissolution  of    ^^>'xi<^'^d., 
the  religious  houses  and  the  seizure   of  gild  property  de-    245-256, 
stroyed  the  only  system  in  existence  for  alleviating  poverty.   548-558- 
It  was  impossible,  however,  that  a  government  so  paternal  as   (ircun, 
that  of  the  Tudors  should  not  endeavor  to  meet  this  need,   pp-  396,  397- 
and  step  by  step,  by  means  of  a  long  series  of  experiments, 
an  elaborate  system  of  poor  relief  was  worked  out.      The 
responsil)ility  of  the  civil  power  for  the  care  of  the  poor  was 
fully  recognized,  and  what  was  formerly  a  religious  duty,  to 
be  enforced  by  the  Church,  was  now  accepted  as  a  public 
charge,  to  be  met  by  a  regular  assessment  on  property  by  the 
local   authorities.     Each   parish  was   bound  to  support  its 
own  poor.     Gradually  the  proper  distinction  between  pau- 
pers and  vagabonds  was  established,  houses  of  correction 
were  erected  for  the  lazy  and  vicious,  while  suitable  relief 
was  given  to  the  helpless  poor,  and  children  were  appren- 
ticed to  a  trade.     Some   effort  was  also  made  to  provide 
work  for  able-bodied  paupers.     In   1601  the  long  series  of    The  great 

statutes  culminated  in  the  great  poor  law  of  Elizabeth,  an   P""""  '^^^' 

...  ,  .  1601. 

elaboration  of  the  principles  and  machinery  already  recog- 
nized. This  in  its  main  provisions  remained  the  basis  of  the 
English  system  of  poor  relief  until  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  close  of  the  century  saw  not  merely  the  establishment 
of  a  well-organized  system  of  poor  relief,  but  also  a  general 
improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  working  classes.  This 
was  due  chiefly  to  the  increased  demand  for  labor  arising  from 
the  extension  of  the  area  under  tillage,  from  improved  methods 
of  agriculture,  and  from  the  development  of  manufactures. 

Social  Habits.  —  Extremes  met  in  sixteenth-century  Eng-    Harper's, 

land  ;  the  growth  in  luxury  and  extravagance  was  as  marked   ^o'-  83.  PP- 

,       .  .  .  _,  ,  ••11      602, 780, 941 

as    the    mcrease   m   pauperism.      Everywhere  were  visible 

new  conceptions    of  comfort,   increased   attention    to    dis-    Source-Pook, 

play.     From  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  there  was  a  marked    ^97-206. 

tendency  toward  rather  vulgar  ostentation  in  living.     The 

gloomy,   fortress-like  dwellings  of  the  nobility  gave  place  to 

the  Elizabethan  manor-house,  with  its  wide  portals  and  long 


282 


England  of  the   Tndors 


Green, 

PP-  396,  397- 

Bright,  II, 
466,  467,  486, 
487. 


Interior  of  the  Stratford  Grammar  School  (Sixteenth  Century) 

Winter,  Gray  Days  and  Gold 

lines  of  windows.  In  the  towns,  the  growing  wealth  of  the 
merchant  class  was  indicated  in  the  building  of  much  finer 
residences,  and  throughout  the  country  generally  wooden 
houses  were  replaced  by  dwelHngs  of  brick  or  stone.  A 
contemporary  writer,  in  speaking  of  the  changed  manner 
of  living,  notes  "  the  multitude  of  chimnies  latilie  erected," 
"  the  great  amendment  of  lodging,"  "  the  exchange  of 
vessels,  as  of  woodden  platters  into  pewter,  and  woodden 
spoons  into  silver  or  tin."  Increased  gorgeousness  of 
attire  was  as  marked  as  improved  house-furnishings.  The 
Englishmen's  love  of  feasting  had  always  been  noticeable. 
A  Spaniard,  writing  in  the  time  of  Mary,  said  of  them, 
"they  fare  commonly  as  well  as  the  king."  This  spread 
of  luxury  was  viewed  by  many  with  dismay.  "  England 
spendeth  more  on  wines  in  one  year  than  it  did  in 
ancient  times  in  four  years,"  was  the  complaint  of  a  royal 
minister.  Numerous  sumptuary  laws  were  passed,  with, 
however,  but  little  eifect. 


Elizabethan  Literature 


283 


Elizabethan  Literature.  —The  promise  of  the  Renaissance   The 
was  overvvhehned  before  it  had  reached  its  fulfihnent  by  the   Renaissance 
fierce  tide  of  religious  revolution.     Reason  and  reform  were   Reforma- 
trampled  under  foot  by  dogma  and  fanaticism.     During  the   tion. 
middle  years  of  the  century,  the  influence  of  the  new  learn- 
ing was  shown  chiefly  in  the  great  attention  given  to  educa- 
tion.    The  sons  and  daughters  of  the  upper  classes  were 


TiMKER  House  in  the  Corn  Market,  Worcester 

Britton,  Picturesque  Antiquities 

carefully  trained,  and  the  founding  of  grammar  schools' 
under  Henry  VIII  and  Edward  VI  testified  to  an  in- 
creased interest  in  the  education  of  the  children  of  the 
middle  class. 

The  settlement  of  the  religious  question  under  Elizabeth 
left  men  free  to  consider  other  things,  and  the  earlier 
revival  of  letters  bore  fruit  in  the  wonderful  outburst  of 
literary  activity  which  marked   the   close    of  the   century. 

iQver  fifty  grammar  schools  were  established  before  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  VHI,  and  Edward  VI  endowed  twenty  more  from  the  plunder  of 
the  chantries. 


284  England  of  the   Tudors 

The  vigor  of  the  national  Hfe  was  reflected  in  the  origi- 
Green,  nality  of  thought,  the  boldness  of  conception,  that  charac- 

pp.  401-404,     terized    the   world   of    letters.     Its    restless    curiosity,    the 
422-438.  many-sidedness   of  its  interests,  found  expression  in  a  lit- 

erature which  included  the  Novum  Organon  of  Bacon 
and  the  Ecclesiastical  Polity  of  Hooker,  Spenser's  Faerie 
Queene  and  Shakespeare's  Hamlet. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE   PURITAN   REVOLUTION 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 

Cromwell,  Letters  and  Speeches  (Carlyle). 

Boyle,  Characters  and  Episodes  selected  from  Clarendon. 

Ludlow,  Memoirs. 

Hutchinson,  Life  of  Colonel  Hutchinson. 

Letters  and  Papers  of  the  Verney  Family. 

Gardiner,  Constitutional  Documents  of  the  Puritan  Revolution. 

Adams  and  Stephens,  Hill,  Henderson,  Prothero,  as  before. 

Special  Authorities 

Gardiner,  History  of  England  from  1603-1642,  History  of  the  Great 
Civil  War,  History  of  the  Commontuealth  and  Protectorate. 

Figgis,  Theory  of  the  Divine  Right  of  Kings. 

Jenks,  Constitutional  Experiments  of  the  Commonwealth. 

ilallam,  Constitutional  History  of  England. 

Montague,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  VII. 

Hutton,  Laud. 

Trevelyan,  England  under  the  Stuarts. 

Goldwin  Smith,  Essays  on  Pym  and  Cromwell  (in  Three  English 
Statesmen^. 

Macaulay,  Essay  on  Hampden. 

Marriott,  Life  and  Times  of  Falkland. 

Harrison,  Oliver  Cromwell. 

Firth,  Oliver  Cromivell. 

Scott,  E.,  Prince  Rupert. 

Imaginative  Literature 

Browning,  Strafford. 
Scott,  The  Fortunes  of  Nigel,  Woodstock. 

285 


286 


TJie  Puritan  Revobition 


See  p.  236. 


Bright,  11, 
581-584. 


James  I  (1603-1625).  —  Mary  Stuart's  son  succeeded 
Elizabeth  on  the  throne  without  dispute.  The  will  of 
Henry  VIII  was  quietly  ignored.  There  was  doubt  as 
to  the  legitimacy  of  the  heir  to  the  crown  in  the  Suffolk 
line;  the  Scotch  king  was  a  Protestant,  his  hereditary  right 
was  undoubted,  the  union  of  Scotland  and  England  under 
one  crown  promised  to  put  an  end  to  the  long-standing 
enmity  between  the  two  kingdoms. 

The  accession  of  the  house  of  Stuart-^  marks  the  close  of 
a  century  of  personal  rule  based  on  public  opinion,  and 
the  opening  of  a  century  of  conflict  for  supremacy  between 
crown  and  Parliament.  England  had  acquiesced  in  the 
Tudor  despotism,  because  in  the  royal  power  lay  the  only 
means  for  securing  peace  at  home  and  for  carrying  on  the 
struggle  against  Spain  and  the  papacy.  Even  after  the 
danger  was  passed,  habit  and  respect  for  Elizabeth  still 
held  in  check  the  growing  spirit  of  independence.  But 
now  the  nation  was  ready  and  determined  to  take  more 
active  part  in  the  control  of  affairs. 

James  I  came  to  the  throne  imbued  with  a  belief  in  the 
divine  right  of  kings,  and  he  held  exalted  ideas  of  the 
royal  prerogative.  The  great  power  of  the  Tudors,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  accession,  the  attitude   of  the  party  by 


1  James  I,  1603-1625,  m.  Anne  of  Denmark 


Henry,  Prince  of 
Wales 


Charles  I,  m.         Henrietta 
1625-1649    I    Maria  of  France 


Charles  H,  (nominally) 

1649-1660, 

(actually)  1660-1685, 

m.  Catherine  of 

Braganza 


Mary,  m. 

William  II, 

Prince  of 

Orange 


James  II, 

1685-1689, 

m.  (i)  Anne 

Hyde; 


William  III,    m.  Mary     Anne, 
Prince  of  Or-    11,1689-     1702- 
ange.  King  of         1694       1714 
Great  Britain 
and  Ireland, 
1689-1702 


(2)  Mary  of 
Modena 

James 
(The  Old 
Pretender) 

Charles  Ed- 
ward (The 
Young  Pre- 
tender) 


Elizabeth,  m.  Frederick  V, 
I  Elector 

Palatine 


Sophia 

I 
George  I, 
1714-1727 


Prince 
Rupert 


James  and  the  Religions  Issue 


287 


which  he  was  surrounded, —  all  combined  to  strengthen 
him  in  a  conception  of  the  English  kingship  as  something 
above  the  law.  Moreover,  he  insisted,  as  the  Tudors  had 
never  done,  on  a  formal  recognition  of  his  claims. 

There  was  little  in  the  Stuart  king  to  make  his  preten- 
sions acceptable  to  the  English  people.  He  was  of  an 
alien  and  unpopular  race.  His  undignified  bearing  was 
in  sharp  contrast  to  the  royal  carriage  of  his  predecessor. 
His  shrewd  sense  and  rough  wit  could  not  make  amends  for 
the  coarseness  of  his  uncouth  speech,  and  the  national  sense 
of  decency  was  shocked  by  the  grossness  and  unveiled 
immorality  of  his  court. 

James  and  the  Religious  Issue.  — The  fundamental  differ- 
ences between  the  king  and  the  people  in  respect  to  the 
power  of  the  crown  were  certain  to  cause  trouble,  but  James 
precipitated  the  conflict  by  his  treatment  of  the  religious 
situation. 

Men  were  beginning  to  think  for  themselves  in  matters 
of  conscience;  they  were  no  longer  willing  to  change  their 
beliefs  at  the  dictation  of  the  ruler.  Deepening  religious 
feeling  meant  increased  difference  of  opinion.  At  the 
death  of  Elizabeth  the  royal  supremacy  and  the  ecclesias- 
tical hierarchy  were  accepted  by  the  bulk  of  the  nation, 
but  within  the  Church  two  parties  were  becoming  sharply 
defined.  One,  the  High  Church  party,  laid  great  stress 
upon  Episcopacy  and  external  forms.  The  other,  the 
Puritan  party,  which  included  a  large  part  of  the  laity  and 
many  of  the  lower  clergy,  thought  more  of  conduct  than  of 
church  government,  and  desired  greater  simplicity  of  wor- 
ship. Nowhere  was  there  a  spirit  of  toleration.  One 
church  for  all  was  the  conception  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury as  it  had  been  of  preceding  centuries.  In  Elizabeth's 
reign  religious  differences  were  silenced  in  the  face  of 
national  danger,  but  now  there  was  no  moderating  influence 
present  among  the  people. 

The  several  parties  looked  forward  to  the  coming  of 
James  with  deep  interest.     Roman  Catholics  hoped  for 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
P-  13- 


Green, 

pp.  474-480. 

482,  483. 


Parties  in 
the  Church, 


288  TJie  Puritan  Revolution 

better  times  under  the  son  of  Mary  Stuart.     The  extreme 
Puritans  saw  in  the  Scotch  king  only  the  Presbyterian  and 
remembered  that  he  had  called  the  English  service  but  an 
"evil-said  mass." 
Blight,  II,  Hampton  Court  Conference  (1604). —  On  his  way  to  Lon- 

587.589-  ^Qj^  the  king  was  presented  with  a  petition  signed  by  825 

Millenary       of  the  clergy.     The  Millenary  Petition,  as  it  was  called, 
Petition.         represented  the  wishes  of  a  large  body  of  the  most  earnest 
Source-Book,    and  able  men  of  the  country.     It  asked  nothing  that  was 
pp.  209-211.     inconsistent  with  the  Church  as  established,  but  it  urged 
greater  freedom  in  certain  matters  of  worship  and  the  re- 
form of  some  recognized  abuses.     James  showed  the  peti- 
tioners slight  favor,  but   he  called  a  conference  of    the 
leading  divines  of  both  parties  to  debate  the  situation  in 
his  presence.    This  apparent  show  of  fairness  was,  however, 
belied  by  his  bearing  at  the  Hampton  Court  Conference, 
where  he  openly  encouraged  the  bishops  while  browbeating 
the  Puritans.     It  was  plain  that  the  royal  influence  would 
be  on  the  side  of  the  High  Church  party. 

James  saw  the  religious  question  in  the  light  of  self- 
interest.  He  felt  that  equality  in  the  Church  would  lead 
to  equality  in  the  State.  He  made  the  mistake  of  con- 
founding Puritanism  with  Presbyterianism,  and  he  held  that 
"A  Presbytery  agreeth  as  well  with  Monarchy  as  God  and 
the  Devil."  On  the  other  hand,  he  recognized  the  identity 
of  interest  between  the  hierarchy  and  the  crown.  "No 
bishop,  no  king,"  was  his  favorite  maxim.  The  Hampton 
Court  Conference  was  James's  chance  of  acting  as  a  medi- 
ator between  two  extreme  parties,  a  part  for  which  he  was 
well  fitted  through  his  tolerant  temper.  He  threw  away 
this  chance  and  allied  himself  with  one  small  party.  The 
new  canons  of  1604,  excluding  from  their  livings  all  clergy- 
men who  questioned  the  complete  accord  of  the  prayer 
book  with  the  Bible,  was  his  answer  to  the  demands  of  the 
Puritans. 

The  Catholics.  —  Persecution  of  Catholics  had  relaxed, 
but  their  position  was  almost  intolerable  through  insecurity 


James  I  and  Parliament 


289 


and  the  opportunities  afforded  for  petty  and  personal  an- 
noyance. At  first  James  showed  wilhngness  to  abate  the 
severity  of  the  laws,  but  in  a  short  time  need  for  consist- 
ency or  desire  to  conciliate  the  Puritans  led  to  a  change. 
All  priests  were  banished,  and  the  fines  for  recusancy  were 
rigorously  exacted.  The  immediate  result  was  the  Gun- 
powder Plot  (1605),  a  conspiracy  formed  by  a  few  desperate 
men  to  blow  up  the  Houses  of  Parliament  and  in  the  con- 
fusion that  would  follow  to  bring  about  a  general  rising. 
The  plan,  which  was  under  the  management  of  a  soldier, 
Guy  Fawkes,  was  discovered  in  time,  and  its  only  effect 
was  to  make  toleration  of  the  Catholics  impossible  for  a 
century  longer. 

James  I  and  Parliament.  — The  Catholics,  excluded  from 
the  House  of  Commons  by  the  Test  Act,  resorted  to  con- 
spiracy, but  the  Puritans  could  show  their  dissatisfaction 
in  more  regular  ways,  and  James  soon  found  that  he  had 
roused  a  spirit  which  he  could  not  control.  Parliament 
met  in  1604.  Attendance  at  the  opening  of  the  session 
had  never  been  so  great,  and  it  was  estimated  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  members  were  Puritans.  The  good  under- 
standing which  had  always  existed  between  Elizabeth  and 
her  Parliament  was  wanting  from  the  start  to  her  successor. 
James  had  aroused  the  jealousy  of  the  Lower  House  by 
an  ill-judged  attempt  to  interfere  in  the  elections.  An 
address,  called  "A  humble  Form  and  Apology,"  was  pre- 
pared by  the  Commons,  but  apparently  never  presented  to 
the  king,  in  which  they  declared  that  their  privileges  and 
liberties  were  theirs  "by  right  and  inheritance,"  and  that 
their  request  to  enjoy  them  was  only  "an  act  of  manners." 
A  determination  was  shown  to  grant  no  money  until  cer- 
tain abuses  had  been  redressed.  Purveyance  and  military 
tenures  were  attacked.  The  question  of  the  new  canons 
was  taken  up.  The  proposals  of  the  Commons  for  settling 
the  religious  question  reveal  a  sounder  view  of  the  situa- 
tion than  was  shown  by  the  king  or  the  bishops  or  the 
Hampton  Court  Puritans.  They  petitioned  against  the 
u 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Kevolution, 
pp.  20-23. 


Gunpowder 
Plot,  1605. 


Green, 

pp.  480-485. 


Source-Book, 
pp.  212-216. 


290 


The  Pu7'itan  Revolution 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp.  17-20. 


practical  evil  of  an  illiterate  and  non-resident  ministry, 
and  they  asked  that  it  might  be  held  sufficient  for  the 
clergy  to  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  Royal  Supremacy 
and  to  the  thirty-nine  Articles  (p.  256),  and  that  no  man 
should  be  deprived  of  his  living  for  objecting  to  the 
surplice    or    to    the   use   of   the   cross  in  baptism.     They 


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Northwest  View  of  Hatfield  House 

Built  for  Robert  Cecil,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  between  1605  and  1611 

would  have   made   the   Church  broad  enough  to  include 
others  than  the  High  Church  party. 

This  first  year  was  typical  of  the  whole  reign.  James 
had  no  liking  for  Parliament;  he  showed  neither  dignity 
nor  tact  in  his  dealings  with  it.  He  wished  to  free  him- 
self from  its  control,  but  from  the  outset  he  was  hampered 
by  need  of  money.  Elizabeth  had  accustomed  the  nation 
to  light  taxes,  and  Parliament  was  not  disposed  to  give 
generously.  It  met  each  request  for  aid  with  a  demand  for 
redress  of  grievances.     To  fill  his  empty  treasury  without 


Rnle  of  Favorites 


291 


appealing  to  Parliament  James  had  recourse  to  many  ques- 
tionable expedients.  Additional  customs  or  impositions 
were  levied  by  royal  proclamation.  The  Commons  pro- 
tested vigorously,  but  in  1606  the  case  of  Bates,  a  merchant 
who  had  refused  to  pay  the  new  customs,  was  decided  in 
favor  of  the  crown.  Acting  upon  this  decision,  James 
issued  a  Book  of  Rates,  by  which  all  the  customs  were 
considerably  increased.  Commerce  was  growing  rapidly 
and  the  revenue  seemed  assured,  but  the  king  was  extrava- 
gant, and  in  16 10  it  again  became  necessary  to  appeal 
to  Parliament  for  supplies.  An  attempt  made  by  Cecil  ^  to 
arrange  a  bargain  by  which  James  agreed  to  abandon  the 
ancient  feudal  tenure  of  land  with  its  exasperating  claims 
in  return  for  a  regular  grant,  ended  in  failure,  and  Parlia- 
ment was  dissolved. 

The  Addled  Parliament.  —  In  1614  the  royal  straits  for 
money  were  so  great  that  a  new  Parliament  was  called,  but 
the  House  of  Commons,  which  included  among  its  mem- 
bers Eliot  and  Wentvvorth  and  Pym,  leaders  in  the  struggle 
that  was  soon  to  break  out,  fell  at  once  to  discussing 
the  question  of  impositions.  James  dissolved  Parliament 
in  anger  before  anything  had  been  accomplished. 

Rule  of  Favorites.  —  For  seven  years,  from  1614  to  1621, 
James  ruled  without  Parliament.  Elizabeth  had  surrounded 
herself  with  statesmen,  but  after  the  death  of  Cecil  in  161 2 
James  took  counsel  chiefly  with  his  favorites.  The  first  of 
these  was  Robert  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset,  a  courtier  who 
had  nothing  to  recommend  him  except  his  beauty  and  grace 
of  manners.  He  was  displaced  by  another  intimate,  George 
Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  with  scarcely  greater 
claims  to  statesmanship  exercised  until  his  death  a  control- 
Hng  voice  in  the  conduct  of  affairs. 

Year  by  year  the  breach  between  James  and  his  subjects 
widened.  There  was  general  indignation  at  the  profligacy 
and   extravagance   of  the    court,  and    the    king's    absolute 

1  Robert  Cecil,  son  of  Elizabeth's  great  minister,  Lord  Burleigh,  was 
James's  chief  adviser  during  the  first  years  of  his  reign. 


Impositions. 


Green, 

pp.  485-488. 


Bucking- 
ham. 


292  The  Pnyitan  Rcvohttioit 

methods  gave  frequent  occasion  for  protest.  Royal  procla- 
mations having  the  force  of  law  were  issued  in  large  num- 
bers. Monopolies,  abandoned  in  the  preceding  reign,  were 
again  granted.  Irregular  means  of  raising  supplies  were 
employed.  Peerages  were  sold,  ancient  feudal  dues  were  re- 
vived, loans  and  benevolences  were  exacted.  Blind  to  the 
effect  of  these  measures  upon  the  people,  James  boldly 
asserted  his  views  of  the  royal  power.  "As  for  the  absolute 
prerogative  of  the  Crown,"  he  declared  in  a  speech  in  the 
Star  Chamber  in  1616,  "that  is  no  subject  for  the  tongue  of 
a  lawyer,  nor  is  it  lawful  to  be  disputed.  It  is  atheism  and 
blasphemy  to  dispute  what  God  can  do;  good  Christians 
content  themselves  with  His  will  revealed  in  His  Word; 
so  it  is  presumption  and  high  contempt  in  a  subject  to  dis- 
pute what  a  king  can  do,  or  say  that  a  king  cannot  do  this 
or  that;  but  rest  in  that  which  is  the  king's  will  revealed 
in  his  law." 
Green,  The  Spanish  Alliance.  — The  home  and  foreign  policy  of 

pp.  488,  489.  fames  I  were  closely  connected.  His  efforts  to  free  himself 
from  parliamentary  control  could  be  successful  only  so  long 
as  he  kept  out  of  war.  During  the  early  part  of  the  reign, 
England's  foreign  relations  were  guided  by  Cecil  in  accord- 
ance with  the  traditions  of  Elizabeth's  rule.  The  war  with 
Spain  was  brought  to  an  end.  Through  the  combined  efforts 
of  the  English  minister  and  the  French  king  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  Dutch  was  virtually  secured.  James's  eldest 
daughter  Elizabeth  was  married  to  a  Protestant  prince  of 
Germany,  the  Elector  Palatine.  A  plan  for  an  alliance  be- 
tween Prince  Henry  and  a  daughter  of  Henry  IV  of  France 
was  frustrated  by  the  untimely  death  of  the  young  prince. 
After  Cecil's  death  in  16 12  James  was  free  to  follow 
his  own  views.  He  was  attracted  by  the  idea  of  a 
Spanish  alliance,  and  while  Cecil  was  still  alive  he  had 
proposed  to  marry  Prince  Charles  to  the  Spanish  Infanta. 
The  king  looked  with  admiration  upon  the  absolutism  of 
the  Spanish  monarchs,  and  he  hoped  in  union  with  Spain 
to  dictate  peace  to  Europe.     There  was  much  to  be  said 


Sir  Walter  Raleigh 


294 


The  Ptiritan  Revolution 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp.  29-31. 


Green, 

pp.  489-493. 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp.  31-39. 


in  favor  of  these  views.  England  needed  peace,  Spain  was 
no  longer  a  menace  to  her  safety,  and  the  commercial  hos- 
tility of  the  two  countries  could  be  better  settled  by  treaty 
than  by  war.  But  his  policy  was  impracticable.  The 
traditional  enmity  to  Spain  was  still  strong,  and  a  Spanish 
alliance  would  mean  toleration  of  the  Catholics  in  England. 
Nevertheless  James  persisted  in  his  plans. ^ 

The  Thirty  Years'  War  greatly  increased  the  difificulties 
of  the  situation.  In  16 18  the  long-impending  struggle 
between  Catholics  and  Protestants  broke  out  in  Germany. 
James's  own  son-in-law,  the  Elector  Palatine,  was  involved, 
and  it  was  impossible  for  England  to  stand  aloof.  The 
king  still  clung  to  the  idea  of  an  alliance  with  Spain,  and 


Signature  of  Francis,  Lord  Bacon 

strove  to  play  the  part  of  peacemaker,  but  the  nation  de- 
tested the  Spanish  connection  and  was  anxious  for  war 
in  the  interests  of  Protestantism. 

Parliament  and  the  Spanish  Policy.  —  In  1620  a  Spanish 
army  invaded  the  Palatinate,  and  James,  helpless  without 
money,  summoned  Parliament  to  obtain  supplies.  The 
Commons  came  together  (1621)  hot  for  war,  but  when  they 
found  that  the  king  was  still  bent  on  negotiating,  they  limited 
the  money  grant  and  turned  fiercely  upon  the  grievances 
that  had  been  accumulating  during  the  past  seven  years. 
Monopolies  were  attacked,  and  James  was  forced  to  give 
up  the  right  of  granting  them.     The  long-disused  weapon 

1  As  a  concession  to  Spain,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  last  of  the  great  captains 
of  Elizabeth's  reign,  was  executed  (1618)  for  his  share  in  the  attack  upon  a 
Spanish  colony  on  the  Orinoco. 


Colonial  Enterprises  295 

of  impeachment   was  revived   against  the  royal   ministers.   Impeach- 

Lord  Bacon,  the  chancellor,  was  impeached  and  condemned   ™'^"*  °^  ^ 

Bacon,  i02i. 
to  severe  punishment  for  taking  bribes.     The  feeling  against 

him  was  due  in  part  to  his  systematic  support  of  the  royal 
prerogative.  Protests  were  made  against  the  Catholic  alli- 
ance, and  war  with  Spain  was  demanded.  The  temper  of 
the  Commons  was  rising,  and  a  message  from  the  king,  for- 
bidding all  consideration  of  foreign  affairs,  they  met  by  a  Protesta- 
strong  declaration  that  the  discussion  of  all  affairs  of  State  *'°°>  ^'^^^• 
was  within  the  province  of  Parliament.  James,  with  his 
own  hand,  tore  the  Protestation  from  the  Journals  of  the 
House.  "  I  will  govern  according  to  the  common  weal, 
but  not  according  to  the  common  will,"  he  declared,  and 
ordered  the  dissolution  of  Parliament. 

More  than  ever  bent  on  bringing  about  a  close  alliance   Green, 
with  Spain,  the  king  permitted  Prince  Charles  and  Buck-   PP-  494-496. 
ingham  to  undertake  a  romantic  journey  to  Madrid  to  woo 
the    young    Infanta.      The    religious    difficulties    were    too 
great  to  be  overcome,  and  in  a    few  months  Charies  and 
Buckingham  were  back  in  England,  piqued  at  their  failure 
and  eager  for  war  with  Spain.     At  once  all  was  changed. 
Negotiations  were  set  on  foot   for  marrying  Charles   to  a 
French   princess.    Parliament    was    again    summoned,    and   War  with 
preparations  for  war  were  pushed  forward.     At  this  juncture   Spam,  1624. 
the  old  king  died.     In  twenty  years  James  had  turned  re- 
spect  for   the    monarchy  into    contempt    and    loyalty  into 
hatred.      He    had    insulted    Parliament    and    asserted    his 
authority  as  no  Tudor  had  ever  done,  but  in  spite  of  his 
arbitrary  methods,  rather    because  of  them,  the    constitu- 
tional  gains  of  this    reign  outweighed    all   that   had    been 
achieved  since  the  fall  of  the  house  of  Lancaster. 

Colonial    Enterprises. — The    beginnings    of    permanent  Green, 
English  occupation  and  colonization  in  America  belong  to   PP-  S06-508, 
the  reigns   of  the   first   two    Stuarts.     Some    of  the  West 
Indian   Islands  —  Barbadoes,    Antigua,    and    Montserrat  — 
then  came  into  English  possession.     The  settlement  of  Vir- 
ginia  in    1607    was   followed  speedily   by  the  planting   of 


296  The  Puritan  Revolution 

colonies  to  the  north,  —  the  New  England  group,  1620-1629, 
Maryland,  1634,  —  and  by  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century  England  could  boast  of  several  strong  settle- 
ments on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  As  a  whole  the  colo- 
nial enterprises  of  England  at  this  time  were  of  exceptional 
character.  They  were  not  the  result  of  a  general  migrating 
tendency  in  the  English  people,  nor  of  a  definite  colonizing 
policy  on  the  part  of  the  government.  The  first  two 
Stuarts  were  far  too  busily  occupied  in  upholding  the  royal 
prerogative  in  England  to  concern  themselves  with  schemes 
of  conquest  and  settlement.  They  were,  however,  responsi- 
ble for  the  religious  and  political  difficulties  which  resulted 
in  a  steady  stream  of  emigration  to  America  during  the 
years  between  1620  and  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 

Charles  I  (1625-1649).  —  Much  was  expected  from  the 
accession  of  Charles.  The  dignity  of  the  young  king's 
bearing  and  the  decorum  of  his  life  had  created  a  favorable 
impression,  and  his  known  hostility  to  the  Spanish  alliance 
aroused  hopes  of  a  more  popular  policy.  But  Charles  was 
even  less  fitted  than  his  father  to  rule  the  Enghsh  people. 
He  was  narrow  and  obstinate.  While  believing  as  strongly 
as  did  James  in  the  royal  prerogative,  he  had  even  less 
comprehension  of  the  popular  temper.  From  first  to  last 
he  showed  himself  incapable  of  understanding  the  condi- 
tions with  which  he  had  to  deal. 
Green,  The  enthusiasm  which  greeted  the   new  monarch   soon 

pp.  485-487.  cooled.  It  became  plain  that  Charles's  opposition  to  Spain 
was  the  result  of  pique  and  did  not  imply  an  essential 
change  of  policy.  Although  the  terms  of  the  French  mar- 
riage treaty^  were  not  known  at  first,  the  mere  fact  of  this 
alliance  with  a  Catholic  princess,  coupled  with  greater 
leniency  toward  the  English  Catholics,  aroused '  fears  of  a 
reaction.     Moreover,  the  continued  influence  of  Bucking- 

1  By  the  marriage  treaty  freedom  of  worship  and  the  custody  of  her 
children  till  the  age  of  ten  were  secured  to  the  queen.  Charles  also  agreed 
to  a  suspension  of  Roman  Catholic  disabilities,  although  he  had  promised 
Parliament  to  do  nothing  of  the  kind. 


Chaki.es  1 


Arbitrary  Acts  297 

ham   gave   little   hope   of   more   capable  action   abroad   or 
more  constitutional  rule  at  home. 

Misgovernment  of  Charles  and  Buckingham.  —  The  king   Gardiner, 
met  his  first  Parliament  with  a  demand  for  money  to  carry    ^"^""f'. 

^  Revolution, 

on  the  war  with  Spain,  but  the  Commons  voted  only  a  pp_  ^8-50. 
small  part  of  what  was  desired  and  for  the  first  time  in  two 
centuries  refnsed  to  grant  the  general  customs  duty  of  ton- 
nage and  poundage  for  life.  The  rigid  execution  of  the  law 
against  the  Catholics  was  demanded,  and  the  king  was  asked 
to  surround  himself  with  counsellors  in  whom  the  i)eople 
could  confide.  Hopeless  of  obtaining  the  necessary  sup- 
plies, Charles  dissolved  Parliament. 

For  a  few  months   the  king  and  Buckingham  struggled 
along,  raising  money  in  irregular  ways  and  endeavoring  to 
win  popularity   by    pushing   forward    the   war    with    Spain. 
But  an  expedition  to  Cadiz  ended  in  disaster  through  the   Expedition 
duke's  mismanagement,  and  in   1626  the  king's  necessities  *o<^adiz. 
forced  him  to  summon  a  new  Parliament.     In  the  hope  of 
weakening  the  opposition,   Charles   had   caused  the   most 
prominent  members  of  the  last  House  of  Commons  to  be 
appointed  sheriffs,  thus  preventing  their  return.     The  Com- 
mons, however,  found  an  able   and  fearless  leader  in  Sir  Attack  on 
John  Eliot  and  at  once  took  up  the  discussion  of  griev-   Buckingham, 
ances.     Buckingham  was  looked  upon  as  the  cause  of  all   Green, 
difficulties,  and  the  Commons,  despite  the  command  of  the   PP-  498,  499- 
king,  urged  forward  his  impeachment.     To  save  his  friend, 
Charles  again  dissolved  Parliament,  and  for  the  next  two 
years  he  strove  to  get  on  without  the  legislative  assembly. 

Arbitrary  Acts.  —  During  the  interval  the  relations  be-  Green, 
tween  Charles  and  his  subjects  grew  steadily  worse.  To  PP-  499-Soi. 
raise  money  to  carry  on  the  government,  the  king  resorted 
to  arbitrary  measures.  A  forced  loan  was  demanded.  Poor 
men  who  refused  to  pay  were  driven  into  the  army ;  rich 
men  were  thrown  into  prison.  Five  of  the  men  thus  pun- 
ished determined  to  test  the  legality  of  the  action  of  the 
government  and  sued  out  a  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus.  The 
point  at  issue  was  the  power  of  the  crown  to  imprison  with- 


298 


The  Puritan  Revolution 


out  showing  cause,  and  the  decision  of  the  judges  was  in  the 
king's  favor.  Many  things  combined  to  arouse  popular  fear 
and  indignation.  The  absokitist  tendencies  of  that  party  in 
the  Church  which  was  favored  by  the  crown  were  becoming 
more  manifest.  It  was  declared  from  the  pulpit  that  "  the 
king  is  not  bound  to  observe  the  laws  of  the  realm  concern- 
ing the  subject's  rights  and  liberties,  but  that  his  royal  will 
and  command  in  imposing  loans  and  taxes  without  common 


War  with 

France, 

1627. 


Thomas  Weniworth,  Earl  of  Strafford 

After  the  painting  by  Van  Dyck 

consent  in  Parliament  doth  ol)lige  the  subject's  conscience 
on  pain  of  eternal  damnation."  Fears  of  a  Catholic  re- 
vival were  aroused  by  the  apparent  leaning  of  the  court 
toward  Rome.  Moreover,  foreign  affairs  were  hopelessly  mis- 
managed. The  Palatinate  was  lost,  and  by  1627  Buckingham 
succeeded  in  involving  England  in  a  war  with  France.  An 
expedition  to  the  Isle  of  Rh6  for  the  relief  of  the  Huguenots, 
now  in  rebellion,  ended  in  complete  disaster. 

Quarrel  between  the  King  and  Parliament.  —  Need   for 


Assassinaiion  of  Jhickiugham  299 

money    forced    Charles    to    summon    a    new   Parliament   111 
1628.     The    Houses   met    in   no   conciliatory   temper   an<l, 
instead  of  voting  supplies,  proceeded  at   once    to   discuss   Gi\rn, 
the  condition  of  the  country.     All  men  were  stirred  by  the  Pt'  491-493- 
recent  attacks  on    i)ersonal    rights.     "We   must   vindicate   <^iii'J'ner, 
our  ancient   liberties,"   said   Sir   Thomas  Wentworth,  "  we   i"^,oTutioii 
must  recn force  the  laws  made  by  our  ancestors.     We  must  pp.  57-63. 
set  such  a  stamp  upon  them   as  no  licentious  spirit  shall 
dare  hereafter  to  invade  them."     He  moved  that  "griev- 
ances and  supjilies  should  go  hand  in  hand,"  and  under  his 
leadership  the  Commons  drew  up  the  Petition  of  Right,  a 
statement  of  privilege  second  only  to  the  Cireat  Charter  in   i-h^  Petition 
constitutional  importance.     It  declared  that  no  man  should   of  Right, 
be  forced  to  pay  loan,  benevolence,  or  tax  without  the  con-   Pg*^^"""^ 
sent  of  Parliament ;  that  no  subject  should  be  imprisoned    No.  23. ' 
without  stated  charge ;  that  soldiers  should  not  be  billeted 
upon  the  people  against  their  will ;   and    that  martial    law 
should  not  be  enforced  in  time  of  peace.     At  first  Charles 
gave  an  evasive  answer  to  the  Commons'  demands,  but  he 
was   finally   forced   to   yield  consent,  and  the  Petition  of 
Right  became  part  of  the  law  of  England. 

The  granting   of  the    Petition  did  not  secure  harmony 
between  the  king  and  Parliament.     Before  the  end  of  the  Adams 
session  a   new  question  arose.     Although  the  grant  of  ton-   Kepresenta- 
nage    and    poundage,    even    for    a   year,    had    never    been    '^'^    '''^"' 

°  1  o    '  J         y  Orations,  I. 

completed,  Charles  had  levied  the  duties  ever  since  his 
accession.  The  Commons  now  contended  that  the  Peti- 
tion of  Right  made  such  action  illegal,  but  the  king  main- 
tained that  customs  were  not  covered  by  the  words  of  the 
Petition.  The  question  was  still  unsettled  when  Charles, 
to  avert  an  attack  upon  Buckingham,  prorogued  Parliament. 
Assassination  of  Buckingham.  —  Before  Parliament  met 
again,  the  favorite  had  fallen  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.^ 
Buckingham's  death  was  received  with  general  rejoicing, 
but   it   brought  no  improvement  in  the  situation ;  it  only 

1  An  officer  named   Felton,  who   was   embittered  by  failure  to  obtain 
employment. 


300 


TJic  Puritan  Revolution 


Green, 

PP-  503-505- 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  63-69. 


The  three 
resolutions. 


laid  bare  the  gulf  that  divided  the  king  and  the  nation. 
The  powerful  duke  had  borne  the  brunt  of  popular  dissatis- 
faction ;  it  was  now  no  longer  possible  to  deny  the  king's 
responsibility  for  the  policy  of  the  government. 

The  Commons  and  the  Religious  Question.  — The  matter 
of  tonnage  and  poundage  might  have  been  compromised  if 
it  had  stood  alone,  but  the  chance  of  an  harmonious  setUe- 
ment  was  greatly  diminished  by  growing  religious  differ- 
ences. The  country  gentry,  the  most  numerous  element 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  was  at  this  time  Protestant  and 
Calvinistic  in  feeling.  But  among  the  clergy  of  the  High 
Church  party  there  was  a  tendency  to  break  away  from  the 
sterner  dogmas  of  Calvin.  The  ecclesiastical  party  favored 
by  the  court  was  thus  brought  into  conflict  with  the  House  of 
Commons,  both  through  its  theological  beliefs  and  through 
its  political  opinions.  The  Commons  showed  themselves 
as  hostile  to  the  one  as  to  the  other.  One  clergyman  was 
impeached  for  attacking  the  doctrine  of  predestination, 
another  for  upholding  from  the  pulpit  such  views  as  that 
"  the  king  is  not  bound  to  observe  the  laws  of  the  realm 
concerning  the  subject's  rights  and  liberties." 

Fear  and  doubt  steadily  increased  during  the  autumn. 
Charles's  persistency  in  the  matter  of  tonnage  and  pound- 
age, the  favor  shown  to  Catholics,  the  promotion  of  Laud 
(the  leader  of  the  High  Church  party)  to  the  bishopric  of 
London,  the  bestowal  of  important  preferments  upon  Mon- 
tague and  Manwaring  (the  clergymen  censured  by  Parlia- 
ment), all  seemed  to  point  to  a  systematic  attack  upon  the 
Church  and  the  Constitution. 

When  Parliament  reassembled  early  in  1629  the  storm 
broke  loose.  The  question  of  religion  was  at  once  taken 
up  by  the  Commons  under  the  leadership  of  Sir  John  Eliot. 
On  the  2d  of  March  the  debate  was  suddenly  interrupted  by 
an  order  to  adjourn.  A  scene  of  great  excitement  followed. 
The  Speaker  was  held  down  in  his  chair  so  that  he  could 
not  announce  the  adjournment,  while  Eliot  read  three  resolu- 
tions declaring  that  any  one  who  introduced  innovations  in 


Personal  Government 


301 


religion  or  advised  the  levying  of  tonnage  or  poundage  with- 
out a  grant  by  Parliament  or  voluntarily  paid  such  duties 
should  be  regarded  as  an  enemy  to  the  kingdom  and  a  be- 
trayer of  the  liberties  of  luigland.  The  resolutions  were 
adopted  with  shouts  of  "  Aye,  aye."  Charles  at  once  ordered 
a  dissolution,  and  for  eleven  years  no  Parliament  was  called. 

Personal  Government.  —  The  dissolution  of  Parliament 
was  followed  by  a  period  of  personal  rule.  In  a  public 
proclamation  Charles  declared  that  "  we  have  showed  by  our 
frequent  meeting  our  people  our  love  to  the  use  of  Parlia- 
ment ;  yet  the  late  abuse  having  for  the  present  driven  us  un- 
wittingly out  of  that  course,  we  shall  account  it  presumption 
for  any  to  prescribe  any  time  with  us  for  Parliament." 

The  first  years  of  absolutism  were  quiet  and  untroubled. 
The  government  was  carried  on  by  ministers  who  were  the 
irresponsible  agents  of  the  royal  will.  The  leaders  of  the 
opposition  in  the  last  House  of  Commons  were  imprisoned 
and  charged  before  the  King's  Bench  with  riot  and  sedition. 
Eliot  refused  to  plead,  denying  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court  over  things  done  in  Parliament,  and  he  died  in  prison 
(1632),  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  representative  government. 
Peace  was  made  with  France  in  1629,  and  with  Spain  in 
1630.  The  collection  of  the  customs  was  continued  and 
resistance  gradually  died  out.  Through  the  agency  of  the 
court  of  the  Star  Chamber  the  king's  opponents  were  crushed 
or  silenced.  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  the  author  of  the 
Petition  of  Right,  was  won  over  to  the  side  of  absolutism. 
Political  conviction  combined  with  personal  ambition  had 
led  Wentworth  to  forsake  the  popular  cause.  His  opposi- 
tion had  been  directed  against  the  influence  of  Buckingham 
rather  than  against  the  power  of  the  crown.  He  saw  all 
the  defects  of  the  parliamentary  system  and  none  of  its 
good  points,  and  his  ideal  was  a  monarchy  of  the  Tudor 
type  with  a  patriotic  minister  behind  the  throne.  Charles 
realized  the  value  of  such  a  servant.  Wentworth  was  raised 
to  the  peerage  in  1629  and  made  President  of  the  Council  of 
the  North.  In  1633  he  was  appointed  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland. 


Sottrce-Dook, 
219-222. 


Green, 

pp.  504,  505. 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  69-75. 


Wentworth. 

Green, 

pp.  518-520. 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  76,  77. 


Baron 
Wentworth. 


302 


The  Puritan  Revolution 


Wentworth  in  Ireland.  —  Since  the  overthrow  of  Tyrone 
the  Irish  had  rcnuiined  ([uiet.  The  pohcy  of  coloniza- 
tion, however,  was  continued,  and  under  James  I  large 
tracts  of  the  best  lands  of  Ulster  were  confiscated  on 
slight    pretexts    and    planted    with    Scotch    and    English 


Green, 

pp.  520,  521. 


William  Laud 
From  a  portrait  engraved  for  the  Universal  Magazine 

^;  Co/nA: 

settlers.  As  many  of  these  were  Puritans,  a  new  element 
of  discord  was  introduced.  When  Wentworth  arrived 
in  Ireland  he  at  once  set  to  work  to  organize  the  gov- 
ernment in  the  royal  interest,  and  created  an  army  chiefly 
of  Irish  Catholics.  On  the  understanding  that  the  king 
would   concede  certain  favors    for  which  the   Irish    Parlia- 


Land  and  the  ChurcJi 


303 


ment  had  petitioned,  he  procured  a  large  grant  of  money. 
The  su])pliei-:  once  voted,  however,  W^Mit worth  did  not 
hesitate  to  advise  Charles  to  withhold  the  promised  con- 
cessions. Conformity  was  rigorously  enforced,  although 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  among  the  Irish  .were  of 
the  Catholic  faith.  So  well  did  W'entworth  take  his  meas- 
ures that  in  1636  he  could  write  to  Laud,  "'j'he  king  is 
now  as  absolute  here  as  any  prince  in  the  world  can  be." 
Although  his  rule  was  a  rule  of  terror,  he  nevertheless  did 
something  to  improve  the  material  condition  of  the  country. 
Good  laws  were  passed,  the  (lax  intlustry  was  fostered,  and 
trade  developed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fears  of  the  Irish 
for  their  lands  were  kept  alive  Ijy  a  proposal  to  plant 
Connaught  with  English  settlers,  and  race  and  religious  ' 
antagonisms  were  intensified  by  Wentworth's  policy  of 
governing  through  a  balance  of  parties. 

Laud    and   the   Church.  —  In    ecclesiastical    matters    the   Green, 
king's    chief  adviser  was    Laud,  Bishop    of   London,    later   PP-  498-503. 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.     Unity  through  uniformity  was 
Laud's   policy,   and    the    canons   of  the  Church  were    his 
standard.     In  matters  of  doctrine  he  was  tolerant,  and  his   Gardiner, 
efforts  to  restore  order  and  decency  in  the  churches  were   P'"'ff' 

.        ,  r  ■        ^    Revolution, 

much  needed.  But  he  was  determmed  to  torce  one  ritual  pp^^^^g^^s 
on  the  country,  and  he  showed  no  mercy  to  the  Puritan  85-90,  94-97. 
clergy.  All  who  refused  exact  conformity  in  matters  of  wor- 
ship were  suspended  or  deprived.  Worst  of  all  he  seemed 
to  be  drawing  the  Church  nearer  to  Rome.  Increasing 
stress  was  laid  upon  ceremonial,  the  authority  of  the  bishops 
was  exalted,  language  was  used  which  was  thought  to  show 
a  desire  for  reconciliation  with  the  ancient  Church. 

By  this  course  Laud  set  himself  in  sharp  opposition  to 
the  prevailing  sentiments  of  the  nation.  His  rigid  system 
made  no  allowance  for  the  deepening  religious  feeling  ot 
the   people,  now  as  never  before  a  Bible-reading  people.' 

lln  1611  a  new  translation  of  tlie  Bible,  known  as  the  Authorized 
Version  of  King  James,  was  published.  It  was  the  work  of  Puritans  and 
High  Churchmen,  and  was  proposed  in  the  Hampton  Court  Conference. 


304 


TJie  Puritan  Revolution 


Disapproval  of  the  principles  of  the  High  Church  party 
was  not  confined  to  extreme  Puritans  now  that  men  were 
forced  to  see  in  that  party  the  strongest  supporters  of  the 
royal  prerogative.  The  struggle  going  on  in  (lermany  had 
tended  to  intensify  the  Protestantism  of  England,  and  fears 
of  a  Catholic  reaction  could  not  fail  to  arouse  even  the 
most  moderate.  As  yet,  however.  Laud  met  with  litde  re- 
sistance in  enforcing  his  measures.  The  court  of  High 
Commission  and  the  Star  Chamber  were  active  in  sup- 
pressing open  disaftection,  and  many  of  the  more  deter- 
mined Puritans  left  the  country  to  seek  a  home  in  the 
new   commonwealth   beyond    the    sea. 

Financial  Schemes.  —  Charles's  chief  difficulty  was  to 
obtain  money  without  the  aid  of  Parliament.  New  ex- 
pedients were  devised  for  raising  a  revenue.  Exorbitant 
fines  were  exacted  for  all  kinds  of  petty  offences.  Compo- 
sition for  knighthood  was  enforced  after  a  century's  disuse.^ 
By  reviving  obsolete  laws  the  bounds  of  the  royal  forests 
were  greatly  extended,"  and  those  whose  lands  lay  within 
the  new  limits  had  to  pay  fines  to  secure  their  titles.  The 
legislation  of  James's  reign  had  not  touched  the  power 
of  the  crown  to  establish  corporations  with  the  right  of 
monopoly,  and  the  sale  of  monopolies  was  carried  on  to 
an  unheard-of  extent. 

In  view  of  the  maritime  ascendency  of  France  and  Hol- 
land, Charles  not  unnaturally  desired  to  strengthen  the 
English  fleet.  He  determined  to  make  use  of  an  ancient 
custom,  and  in  1634  issued  writs  to  the  port  towns  requir- 
ing them  to  furnish  ships.  In  the  following  year,  the  inland 
counties  were  included  in  the  demand.  In  both  cases  the 
king  managed  to  obtain  not  ships  but  money,  which  he 
devoted  to  building  up  a  navy  entirely  under  his  control. 
Year  after  year  the  levy  of  ship-money  continued.     Popular 

1  By  a  law  of  Edward  I,  all  owners  of  land  worth  ^40  a  year  were  obliged 
to  receive  knighthood,  paying  large  fees  for  the  honor,  or  else  incur  a  heavy 
fine. 

'^  The  limits  of  the  Forest  of  Rockingham  were  enlarged  from  six  to 
sixty  miles. 


Financial  Schcuus  305 

dissatisfaction  arose,  not  because  the  king  had  a  navy,  but 
because  the  tax  was  raised  without  a  parhamentary  grant. 
As  yet  the  fund  was  employed  according  to  the  avowed 
intention,  but  the  principle  involved  was  so  capable  of 
extension  that  Wentworth  said  of  it :  "  Let  the  king  only 
abstain  from  war  for  three  years  that  he  may  habituate  his 
subjects  to  the  payment  of  this  tax,  and  in  the  end  he  will 
find  himself  more  powerful  and  respected  than  any  of  his 
predecessors." 


Hampden 

After  a  print  by  J.   Houbraken,   1740 

The  nation  saw  this  as  clearly  as  did  Wentworth.     John 
Hampden,  a  gentleman  of  Buckinghamshire,  undertook  to   Hampden, 
bring  the  question  of  the  legality  of  ship-money  before  the 
courts  by  refusing  to  pay  his  tax.     But  the  judges  were  the 
tools  of  the  king,  and  the  decision  was  in  favor  of  the  royal   Old  South 
prerogative.     One  judge  asserted    that    nx   was   lex,    and    j^.J  ^' 
Chief  Justice  Finch  declared  that  "  they  are  void  Acts  of 
Parliament  to  bind  the  king  not  to  command  the  subjects, 

X 


3o6 


TJie  Puritan  Revolution 


their  persons  and  goods,  and  1  say  their  money  too,  for  no 
Acts  of  Parhament  make  any  difference."  It  was  vain  to 
look  for  justice  in  courts  guided  not  by  the  law  but  by  the 
will  of  the  king. 

The  decision  of  the  judges  in  the  ship-money  case 
showed  all  thinking  men  the  peril  of  the  situation.  Never- 
theless action  did  not  at  once  follow ;  no  leader  had  ap- 
peared, and  in  the  intermission  of  Parliament  the  national 
temper  was  in  doubt.  But  the  blind  self-will  of  the  king 
was  hastening  the  crisis. 

Quarrel  with  Scotland.  —  The  signal  for  revolt  came  from 
Scotland,  The  vigorous  Presbyterianism  of  the  northern 
kingdom  had  not  been  able  to  hinder  the  reestablishment 
of  Episcopacy  under  James,  but  the  feeling  of  the  people 
was  openly  hostile  and  suspicious.  Undismayed,  Charles 
and  Laud  determined  to  force  upon  the  Scots  a  new  church 
service,  modelled  upon  the  English  prayer  book.  National 
pride  as  well  as  religious  feeling  was  offended  at  this  inno- 
vation from  England.  The  first  attempt  to  use  the  new 
liturgy  met  with  an  opposition  which  soon  grew  into  re- 
bellion against  the  pohtical  as  well  as  the  ecclesiastical 
authority  of  the  king.  The  Covenant  of  1557  was  renewed. 
A  free  Parliament,  a  general  assembly,  and  the  abolition  of 
the  obnoxious  ecclesiastical  innovations  were  demanded. 
For  the  moment  Charles  yielded,  but  only  to  gain  time  to 
gather  together  an  army.  He  dared  not  draw  back,  for  fear 
of  the  effect  in  England.  In  1639  the  war  broke  out,  and 
the  advantage  was  all  on  the  side  of  the  Covenanters.  With- 
out the  support  of  Parliament  it  was  evident  that  Charles 
could  not  hold  his  own  against  a  united,  determined  Scot- 
land. By  the  advice  of  Wentworth,  who  had  returned  from 
Ireland  and  become  for  the  first  time  the  chief  counsellor 
of  the  king,  the  policy  of  the  last  eleven  years  was  aban- 
doned, and  a  Parliament  was  summoned. 

The  Short  Parliament.  —  The  Parliament  called  for  May, 
1640,  met  in  no  unreasonable  temper,  but  it  was  soon  plai'i 
that   grievances    must   be   redressed   before  aid  would   \>i 


Meeting  of  the  Long  Parliavient 


307 


granted.  Charles  offered  to  give  uj)  ship-money  in  return 
for  supph'es,  but  the  Commons  hesitated  and  showed  signs 
of  opposition  to  the  war  with  Scotland.  Money,  not  debate, 
was  what  Charles  wanted,  and  against  the  advice  of  Went- 
worth,  now  Earl  of  Strafford,  he  dissolved  Parliament  after 
a  session  of  little  more  than  three  weeks. 

During  the  summer  the  king's  difificulties  increased ; 
since  he  could  not  pay  the  army  that  he  had  gathered 
together,  the  soldiers 
mutinied  and  refused  to 
fight.  The  Scots  invaded 
Durham  and  Northum- 
berland. Finally,  by  tlie 
advice  of  a  Council  of 
Peers  called  at  York, 
Charles  entered  into  ne- 
gotiations with  the  Scots, 
and  at  the  same  time 
issued  writs  for  a  new 
Parliament. 

The  Meeting  of  the 
Long  Parliament.  —  In 
November  the  Long 
Parliament  of  the  Re- 
bellion, the  most  famous 
Parliament  in  English 
history,  met  at  West- 
minster. The  king  was 
at  its  mercy ;  without  money  he  could  neither  wage  war 
against  the  Scots  nor  treat  with  them  to  advantage.  Sup- 
ported by  popular  feehng  and  by  the  menace  of  invasion 
from  Scotland,  the  Commons  reahzed  that  their  opportunity 
had  come,  and,  in  the  words  of  John  Pym,  they  felt  that 
"  to  remove  all  grievances  they  must  pull  up  the  causes 
of  them  by  the  roots." 

A  determination  to  bring  the  king's  ministers  to  justice 
became  at  once  apparent.     Strafford  was  the  first  object  of 


Afiams, 
Representa- 
tive lirithh 
Orations,  I. 


JOHN'  Pym 

After  a  painting  by  Robert  Walker 


Green, 

pp.  521-527. 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution , 

pp.  110-118. 


30^ 


TJic  Puritan  Revolution 


Impeach- 
ment of 
Strafford. 

Old  South 
Leaflets, 
No.  6i. 
Source-Book, 
232-237. 


Laud 

imprisoned, 

1640; 

executed, 

1645. 


attack.  Under  the  leadership  of  Pym,  from  the  outset  the 
ruHng  spirit  in  the  Lower  House,  the  Commons  proceeded 
to  his  impeachment.  Strafford  was  charged  with  having 
established  arbitrary  rule  in  Ireland  and  with  attempting  to 
overthrow  the  liberties  of  England.  In  March,  1641,  his 
trial  was  opened  in  Westminster  Hall.  Under  the  exist- 
ing laws  of  treason,  conviction  seemed  impossible,  and 
accordingly  for  the  impeachment  was  substituted  a  bill 
of  attainder.  Even  yet  Strafford  might  have  been  saved 
had  not  the  discovery  of  a  royal  plot  to  overwhelm  Parlia- 
ment with  the  army  from  the  north  convinced  the  peers 
that  the  man  whom  all  regarded  as  the  mainstay  of  the 
royal  despotism  could  not  safely  be  allowed  to  live.  The 
attainder  was  carried  with  little  opposition  in  either  House 
and  received  the  royal  signature  (May  10,  1641),  although 
Charles  but  a  few  days  before  had  assured  the  earl  that  he 
should  not  suffer  in  "  life,  honor,  or  fortune."  Strafford  paid 
the  penalty  of  being  behind  his  generation,  of  attempting  to 
restore  a  constitution  which  the  nation  had  outgrown. 

The  attack  upon  Strafford  was  accompanied  by  legisla- 
tion limiting  the  royal  prerogative.  The  courts  of  the  Star 
Chamber  and  High  Commission  were  abolished,  ship-money 
was  declared  illegal,  the  power  of  the  crown  to  levy  tonnage 
and  poundage  or  other  impositions  was  denied,  and  a 
Triennial  Act  was  passed  requiring  that  Parliament  should 
meet  every  three  years  even  if  not  summoned  by  the  king. 
At  the  same  time  Charles  was  forced  to  give  his  assent  to  a 
bill  declaring  that  the  present  Parliament  could  not  be  dis- 
solved without  its  own  consent. 

The  Church  Question.  —  In  passing  these  measures  Par- 
liament had  worked  with  great  unanimity,  but  when  the 
religious  question  was  taken  up,  division  at  once  appeared. 
Hostility  to  Laud  and  to  Laud's  innovations  was  general, 
and  there  was  a  widespread  desire  to  limit  the  power  of  the 
bishops,  but  beyond  this  point  there  was  great  difference 
of  opinion.  Some  supported  a  modified  Episcopacy,  others 
wished  to  introduce  the  Presbyterian  system,  a  few  tended 


Insurrection  of  the  Irish  Catholics 


309 


to  the  Separatist  idea  of  independent  congregations.  A 
compromise  proposition  excluding  the  bishops  from  Par- 
liament was  passed  by  the  Commons,  but  was  thrown  out  in 
the  House  of  Lords.  This  led  at  once  to  the  introduction 
of  a  more  extreme  measure,  called  the  Root  and  Branch 
Bill,  "  for  the  utter  abolition  "  of  Episcopacy.  Over  the 
Church  question  the  Commons  divided.  There  were  now 
two  parties,  one  upholding  Episcopacy,  the  other  bent 
upon  such  changes  as  would  render  the  tyranny  of  the 
bishops  impossible  for  the  future.  In  September  Parlia- 
ment adjourned.  Of  the  meastu-es  passed,  all  except  the 
compulsory  clauses  of  the  Triennial  Act  became  a  part  of 
the  permanent  constitution.  With  this  first  session  the 
work  of  reform  was  done  ;  henceforth  Parliament  was  to  act 
rather  as  a  committee  of  safety  than  as  a  legislative  body. 

The  Insurrection  of  the  Irish  Catholics.  —  Before  the 
adjournment  of  Parliament  the  king  had  set  out  for  Scot- 
land, in  the  secret  hope  of  obtaining  an  army  from  the  Scots 
which  he  might  use  against  his  opponents.  Charles  still 
thought  to  preserve  his  prerogative  undiminished.  While 
apparently  acquiescing  in  the  action  of  Parliament,  he  was 
secretly  planning  to  undo  all  that  had  been  accomplished. 
It  was  the  conviction  of  this  that  instigated  the  extreme 
demands  of  the  Commons.  The  great  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  a  satisfactory  and  conservative  settlement  of  the  govern- 
ment was  the  lack  of  confidence  in  the  king's  sincerity. 

While  Charles  was  still  in  the  north  endeavoring  to  win 
over  the  Scots  by  conceding  all  their  demands,  news  arrived 
from  Ireland  which  greatly  lessened  the  chance  of  a  good 
understanding  between  the  king  and  Parliament.  For  some 
months  Charles  had  dallied  with  proposals  of  the  Irish 
Catholic  lords  to  send  him  help  in  return  for  permission  to 
overturn  the  Dublin  government.  Nothing  had  been  set- 
tled when  Charles  went  to  Scotland  in  August.  The  Irish 
people,  maddened  by  the  accumulated  wrongs  of  two  gen- 
^  erations,  impatient  of  delay,  and  terrified  at  the  prospect 
of  faUing  into  the  hands  of  a  Puritan  Parliament,  took  mat- 


Root  and 
Branch  Bill. 


Charles  in 
Scotland. 


Gardiner, 

Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp.  119,  12a 


3IO 


The  Puritan  Revolution 


Old  South 

I^eaflets, 

No.  24. 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

p.  121. 

Green, 

PP-  527-533- 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp.  122-124. 


ters  into  their  own  hands.  On  the  23(1  of  October,  1641, 
the  natives  of  Ulster  rose  against  the  Enghsh  and  Scotch 
settlers.  The  rebellion  spread  to  other  parts  of  the  island. 
It  was  a  war  of  Catholic  against  Protestant,  of  Celt  against 
Saxon,  of  the  evicted  against  the  usurper.  Terrible  atroci- 
ties were  committed.  Some  thousands  of  the  aliens  were 
slaughtered,  women  and  children  perishing  with  the  men. 
A  cry  for  vengeance  was  raised  in  England.  In  the  excited 
state  of  feeling  there  were  many  who  accused  Charles  of 
having  instigated  the  rising.  Of  this  he  may  be  acquitted, 
but  not  of  the  responsibility  for  having  aroused  an  out- 
raged people  whose  furious  vengeance  he  could  not  control. 
The  Grand  Remonstrance.  —  The  outbreak  in  Ireland 
raised  a  new  difficulty.  An  army  would  be  necessary  to 
put  down  the  rebellion.  Could  the  king  be  trusted  with 
forces,  which  he  might  turn  against  Parliament?  Pym  and 
Hampden  answered,  No.  Under  their  influence  the  Grand 
Remonstrance,  a  statement  of  grievances,  a  programme  for 
the  future,  an  appeal  to  the  nation,  was  forced  through 
Parliament.     This   was    the    critical    moment.      Failure    to 

pass  the  Grand  Remonstrance 
^     ^y^  .  would    have    meant    the   aban- 

A^'Py^^y^    donment    of    the    struggle    by 
Y   /  many   patriots.     "If   the    Re- 

monstrance had  been  re- 
jected," said  Oliver  Cromwell, 
member  for  Cambridge,  "  I  would  have  sold  all  I  had,  and 
never  have  seen  England  any  more."  Success  completed 
the  division  of  the  nation  into  two  factions.  Lack  of 
confidence  in  the  king  had  forced  men  to  extreme  meas- 
ures. The  violence  of  the  opposition  now  led  to  the 
formation  of  a  royal  party. 

This  was  Charles's  opportunity.  By  allying  himself 
frankly  with  the  moderates,  he  might  have  won  a  majority 
in  the  Connnons  to  his  side.  But  he  still  hoped  to  avoid 
damaging  concessions.  In  November,  1641,  the  king 
issued  a  declaration  affirming  his  loyalty  to  the  Church, 


Signature  of  Pym 


The  Civil  War  311 

and  called  Hyde  and  Falkland,  leaders  of  the  moderates, 
to  his  counsels,  but  other  measures  showed  a  determination 
to  resort  to  force.  Excitement  was  growing  both  in  Parlia- 
ment and  in  the  country.  Brawls  between  the  supporters 
of  the  king  and  the  Parliament's  men  occurred  daily  in 
the  streets  of  London.'  The  Commons  pushed  forward  a 
bill  to  exclude  the  bishops  and  the  Catholic  peers  from  the 
House  of  Lords.  Charles  now  determined  on  a  bold  step.  Attack  on 
He  caused  five  of  the  leaders  of  the  Commons,  including  ^'^'^  ^^^ 

.  ^    members. 

Pym  and   Hampden,  to  be  impeached  on  the   charge  of 

treason.     That  they  might  not  escape,  he  resolved  to  have  Source-Book, 

them  arrested  in  their  places  in  the  House.     He  was  urged  237-24°- 

to   this  step   by  the  queen,   his  faithful   supporter  and  his 

evil  genius.     The  attempt  failed,  but  it  made  complete  the 

breach  between   the   king  and   Parliament.      The   struggle 

that  now  followed  as  to  the  command  of  the  militia  showed 

that  both  sides  looked  forward  to   a  settlement  by  force. 

But  Charles  had  already  left  London,  not  to  return  until 

brought  back  a  prisoner. 

The  Civil  "War. — The  early  months  of  1642  were  spent 
by  both  parties  in  making  preparations  for  war.     The  queen, 
taking  with  her  the  crown  jewels,  went  to  Holland  to  raise 
money.    Parliament  voted  supplies  and  called  out  the  militia. 
Charles  issued  a  commission  of  array.-     The  country  ranged   Gardiner, 
itself  on  one  side  or  the  other,  as  conviction  or  interest  Puritan 
dictated.     With  the  king  were  most  of  the    great  nobles,   pp^i2s-i28, 
many  of  the  gentry,  and  the  peasants.     The  Catholics  and   130, 131. 
the  High  Church  party  were  also  on  his  side.     A  few  of  the   Division  of 
nobles,  the  bulk  of  the  lesser  gentry,  the  yeomanry,  Lon-   ^^^^  nation, 
don,  and  most  of  the  towns,  rallied  to  Parliament.     As  a 
whole  the  backward  portions  of  the  country,  the  north  and 
the  west,  were  Royalist,  while  the  eastern  counties,  the  most 
advanced  part  of  England,  were  strong  for  Parliament. 

1  It  was  now  that  the  nicknames  of  "  Roundhead  "  and  "  Cavalier"  were 
first  heard. 

2  Mandates  sent  to   trustworthy  persons  to  raise  troops  in  the  king's 
name. 


ENGLAND  — 

AND    WALES 

THE   CIVIL  WARS 
OF  THE   17TH    CENTURY 


3       Longitude         2  from  1        Greenwich        0  East  1 


BORHAt  4  CO.,  ENuR'S.  N.Y. 


TJie  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  313 

Both  parties  were  hampered  by  financial  difficuUies,  but 
in  this  respect  Parhament  was  in  a  better  position  than  the 
king.  As  nominally  representative  of  the  nation  in  matters 
of  taxation  it  controlled  the  regular  ways  of  raising  money. 
Besides,  it  had  the  support  of  London  and  the  moneyed 
classes  generally.  Charles  was  forced  to  depend  upon  the 
generosity  of  his  followers,  and  their  devotion  was  un- 
bounded. Plate,  jewels,  everything  that  could  be  turned  into 
money,  were  put  at  the  king's  service  by  the  Royalist  nobles. 

On  the  23d  of  August  the  royal  standard  was  raised  at  Green, 
Nottingham,  and  the  war  formally  opened.  The  Earl  of  PP-  533-535- 
Essex  was  put  in  command  of  the  Parliamentary  forces.  On 
the  Royalist  side  the  leader  was  Prince  Rupert,  the  king's 
nephew.  The  first  battle  of  the  war  was  fought  at  Edgehill, 
and  the  royal  forces  had  the  advantage.  During  the  next 
two  years  there  was  fighting  all  over  England,  the  important 
centres  of  action  being  in  Yorkshire  and  the  west,  around 
Oxford,  where  the  king  made  his  headquarters,  and  Lon- 
don, where  the  Parliament  was  in  continued  session.  But 
the  war  dragged.  Neither  side  desired  too  complete  a 
victory.  Many  among  Charles's  supporters  feared  that  he 
would  use  success  to  reestablish  abuses  that  had  been  over- 
thrown. Some  on  the  opposite  side  saw  in  the  removal  of 
all  restraints  danger  of  a  Parliamentary  tyranny  which  they 
dreaded  as  much  as  royal  despotism.  On  the  whole,  suc- 
cess was  with  the  king.  He  had  better  generals,  and  his  cav- 
alry, the  most  important  and  most  efficient  arm  of  the  service, 
was  boldly  if  not  always  wisely  led  by  Prince  Rupert.  The 
Parliamentary  levies  were  largely  composed  of  the  rabble  of 
the  towns,  and  contained  at  best  but  few  men  of  military 
training.  The  opening  of  the  year  1644  found  the  king  in 
possession  of  almost  two-thirds  of  England  and  Wales. 

The  Solemn  League   and   Covenant.  —  Parliament   began   Gardiner, 
now  to  retrieve  its  position.     In  the  autumn  of  1643  there  ^'"'ian 
had    been   concluded    an   alliance  with    Scotland.     By  the   „„  ioi_ioo 
Solemn  League  and    Covenant,  Parliament  was   bound    to 
establish  Presbyterianism  in  England.     In  return  the  Round- 


314 


The  Puritan  Revolution 


Death  of 
Pym,  1643. 

Green, 

PP-  535-540- 
Gardiner, 
Puritan 
l\cvoli(tio!> , 
pp.  128-130, 
137.  138- 


Marston 
Moor,  1644. 


Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  134-139. 

Green, 

PP-  559-563- 


heads  received  the  support  of  a  large  force  of  Scots  led  by 
Leslie,  Earl  of  Leven.  The  treaty  with  Scotland  was  Pym's 
last  service  to  the  Parliamentary  cause.  He  died  before 
the  year  was  out. 

Oliver  Cromwell.  —  Put  a  greater  man  than  Pym  was 
coming  into  prominence.  Oliver  Cromwell,  member  for 
C'ambridge,  was,  like  Pym  and  Eliot  and  Hampden,  a  sim- 
ple country  gentleman  of  good  birth  and  fair  estate.  When 
the  civil  war  broke  out,  he  was  appointed  captain  of  a  troop 
of  horse.  He  was  a  born  cavalry  leader  and  little  by  little 
became  the  guiding  spirit  in  military  affairs  on  the  Parlia- 
mentary side.  Cromwell  was  the  first  to  point  out  the 
defects  of  the  Parliamentary  army  and  to  indicate  the 
remedy.  After  the  battle  of  Edgehill  he  said  to  Hampden, 
"  You  must  get  men  of  a  spirit  that  is  likely  to  go  as  far  as 
gentlemen  will  go."  He  would  match  cavaUer  loyalty  by 
spiritual  zeal,  and  he  filled  his  troops  with  men  who,  as  he 
said,  "made  some  conscience  of  what  they  did."  The 
few  successes  of  the  Roundheads  were  gained  mainly  by 
Cromwell.  Through  his  efforts  the  Eastern  Association 
was  formed  and  the  counties  on  the  east  were  kept  free 
from  Royalist  invasion.  Finally,  at  the  battle  of  Marston 
Moor  (July  2,  1644),  the  first  great  battle  of  the  war,  he 
turned  what  had  seemed  defeat  into  an  overwhelming  victory. 

Rise  of  Independency.  — Serious  divisions  were  becoming 
manifest  among  the  Parliamentarians.  On  one  side  was 
the  Presbyterian  party,  in  control  of  Parliament,  intent  on 
establishing  the  Scotch  doctrine  and  discipline  and  disin- 
clined through  loyalty  or  conservatism  to  push  matters  to 
an  extremity  with  the  king.  On  the  other  side  were  the 
Independents,  so  called  because  they  favored  the  Separatist 
idea  of  independent  congregations  without  any  general 
ecclesiastical  organization.  To  the  Independent  party  be- 
longed many  of  the  stronger  Puritans,  men  who  cared  little 
for  dogma  and  outward  form  and  much  for  holiness  of  liv- 
ing. In  opposition  to  the  dogmatism  of  the  Presbyterians, 
they  upheld  the  idea  of  toleration.     Foremost  among  the 


TJie  Sclf-dcnyiiig  Ordiiumcc 


315 


Independents  was  Cromwell.  Church  systems  were  to  him 
a  matter  of  indifference,  and  he  had  filled  his  own  regi- 
ments, popularly  called  the  Ironsides,  with  upholders  of 
every  variety  of  Puritan  belief,  but  all  good  men  and  good 
soldiers.  The  needs  of  the  contest  as  well  as  his  own  temper 
made  Cromwell  tolerant.  He  was  bent  on  carrying  the 
war  through  to  a  speedy  and  triumphant  conclusion,  and 
he  saw  that  Parliament  could  not  afford  to  lose  the  services 
of  good  fighting  men  simply  because  they  were  not  in 
accord  with  the  dominant  doctrinal  views.  To  one  of  the 
Presbyterian  generals,  he  wrote  in  warning,  "Take  heed  of 
being  sharp,  or  too  easily  sharpened  by  others  against  those 
to  whom  you  can  object  little  but  that  they  square  not  with 
you  in  every  opinion  concerning  matters  of  religion." 

The  Self-denying  Ordinance.  —  Early  in  1645  Cromwell 
and  those  who  were  bent  on  a  more  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  war,  succeeded  in  carrying  through  Parliament  a 
Self-denying  Ordinance,  by  which  members  of  either  House 
were  made  ineligible  for  command  in  the  army.  The 
object  was  to  get  rid  of  Essex  and  Manchester,  the  aristo- 
cratic and  incompetent  generals  who  had  hitherto  hampered 
the  military  measures  of  Parliament.  Cromwell  resigned 
his  seat,  together  with  the  other  officers,  but  an  exception 
was  made  in  his  favor.  He  was  allowed  to  retain  his  place 
in  the  House  while  serving'  as  lieutenant-general  with  com- 
mand of  the  cavalry.  At  the  same  time  a  bill  was  passed 
reorganizing  the  army.  In  the  hands  of  Cromwell  the 
"New  Model,"  as  the  reconstituted  force  was  called,  be- 
came the  most  remarkable  army  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  It  was  not  merely  a  perfect  body  of  soldiers,  unsur- 
passed in  courage,  training,  and  discipline.  It  was  also 
an  organized  force  of  religious  and  political  reformers, 
representing  what  was  noblest  and  strongest  in  Puritanism. 
Most  of  the  officers  were  Independents  or  belonged  to 
some  other  of  the  new  sects,  and  the  controlling  element 
among  the  soldiers  was  strongly  Puritan.  In  the  New 
Model  the  citizen  was  never  lost  in  the  soldier  i  each  man 


Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  139-143. 

Green, 

PP-  556-559- 


The  New 
Model. 


3.i6 


TJic  Puritan  Revolution 


Naseby, 
1645. 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp.  144-149. 
Green, 

PP-  547-55?- 


knew  for  what  he  was  fighting,  and,  the  end  once  attained, 
he  was  eager  to  return  to  his  home  and  cahing.  Such  a 
force  led  l)y  the  genius  of  Cromwell  was  irresistible. 

Naseby  and  the  End  of  the  War.  —  In  the  meantime 
Charles  sought  aid  in  every  direction.  He  had  hope  of 
obtaining  soldiers  from  France  and  from  Lorraine.  He 
strove  to  win  the  support  of  the  Irish  by  promising  to  sus- 
pend all  penal  acts  against  the  Catholics.  He  even  agreed 
secretly  to  grant  the  supremacy  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
Ireland  if  aid  could  be  obtained  in  no  other  way.  He 
also  tried  to  win  the  support  of  the  Scotch,  and  his  agent, 
Montrose,  planned  a  diversion  in  the  Highlands  which 
would  necessitate  the  recall  of  the  Scottish  army.  But  the 
energy  of  Cromwell  left  Charles  little  time  to  carry  out  his 
irreconcilable  schemes.  On  the  14th  of  June,  1645,  the 
Royalist  forces  and  the  New  Model  met  at  Naseby.  The 
contest  was  a  repetition  of  Marston  Moor,  and  the  victory 
of  Parliament  was  complete.  In  September,  Montrose 
suffered  a  disastrous  defeat  at  Philiphaugh.  One  by  one, 
Bristol,  Basing,  and  the  other  Royalist  strongholds  were 
reduced.  By  the  summer  of  1646  Charles  had  no  longer 
an  army  in  the  field. 

Negotiation  and  Intrigue.  —  Charles  was  hopelessly  beaten 
in  war,  but  his  cause  was  not  yet  lost.  In  the  diverse 
opinions  of  his  foes  lay  a  chance  of  wringing  victory  from 
defeat.  Parliament  was  in  the  hands  of  fanatical  Presby- 
terians, who  feared  and  detested  the  army  with  its  ideas  of 
toleration.  It  had  lost  touch  with  the  nation,  but  it  still 
had  the  support  of  London,  and  it  was  the  one  legal  and 
constitutional  authority  that  remained.  The  army  wished 
to  restrain  both  king  and  Parliament  in  the  interests  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty.  Power  was  with  the  army,  but 
as  a  military  body  it  was  unfit  for  the  task  of  reorgan- 
izing the  government,  and  it  had  no  shadow  of  constitu- 
tional right. 

Charles  was  skilful  in  taking  advantage  of  these  divi- 
sions, and  for  the  next  two  years  he  carried  on  a  series  of 


9  3 


So 
oO 

&>. 

ja  o 


o  ^ 


3i8 


Tlic  Puritan  Revolution 


intrigues  with  the  different  parties  among  his  opponents, 
being,  as  he  said,  "not  without  hope  that  I  shall  be  able 
to  draw  Presbyterians  or  Independents  to  side  with  me  for 
extirpating  one  anotlier,  that  I  shall  be  really  king  again." 

The  Newcastle  Propositions.  —  After  the  dispersal  of  his 
forces  Charles  took  refuge  with  the  Scotch  army  at  Newark. 
On  the  17th  of  July  pro|)osals  for  peace  from  the  Scots  and 
Parliament  were  presented  to  Charles  at  Newcastle.  The 
king  was  asked  to  accept  the  Covenant,  to  support  Presby- 
terianism,  and  to  give  over  the  control  of  the  militia  to  Par- 


Carisbrooke  Castle 

After  an  original  drawing  by  G.  Holmes 

liament  for  twenty  years.  On  Charles's  refusal  to  agree  to 
these  terms  the  Scots  placed  him  in  the  hands  of  the  English 
commissioners,^  and  withdrew  northwards.  Parliament  be- 
gan to  show  a  willingness  to  lessen  its  demands.  The  truth 
was,  it  was  chiefly  intent  on  getting  rid  of  the  army,  which 
it  was  now  proposing  to  disband.  The  danger  that  men- 
aced Independency  and  religious  liberty  aroused  the  sol- 
diers. They  organized  as  a  body  politic,  and  chose  repre- 
sentatives, called  Agitators,  who  were  to  consult  together 
on  all  important  matters.  In  the  summer  of  1647  they 
seized  the  king  and  carried  him,  not  unwillingly,  to  New- 

1  In  exchange  for  arrears  due  the  army,  amounting  to  ^^400,000. 


Trial  of  Charles  I 

from  a  Print  in  Nalson's  Report  of  the  Trial,  1664.  The  description  of  this  print 
(in  Nalson's  Report)  ends:  "The  pageant  of  this  mock  tribunal  is  thus 
represented  to  your  view  by  an  eye-  and  ear-witness  of  what  he  heard  and 
saw  there." 


A,  the  King 

B,  the  Lord  President,  Bradshaw 

C,  John  Lisle  I  B^adshaw's  Assistants 

D,  Wm.  bay     I 

E,  Andrew  Broughton  )  Clerks  of  the 

F,  John  Phelps  S         Court 


1  The  Arms  of  the 
G,  Oliver  Cromwell  'commonwealth 
H,  Henry  Marten      \  ^^^^  ^^em 

I,    Coke  I  Counsellors  for  the 

K,  Dorislaus  .-     Commonwealth 
L,  Aske  ' 


319 


320 


The  Puritan  Rcvohttiou 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  149-153- 
Green, 

PP'  552-55  S- 


Pride's 
Purge,  1648. 


market.     At  the  same  time  they  refused  to  disband  until  a 
satisfactory  settlement  of  the  kingdom  had  been  made. 

The  Heads  of  the  Proposals.  —  During  the  next  few  months 
Cromwell  and  the  leading  Independents  strove  to  come  to 
terms  with  Charles.  Their  conditions  as  presented  in  the 
Heads  of  the  Proposals  were  wise  and  moderate.  They 
demanded  electoral  reform  and  biennial  Parliaments. 
There  was  to  be  religious  liberty  for  all  except  the  Catho- 
lics. For  ten  years  the  crown  was  to  give  up  control  of 
the  army  and  navy.  On  the  king's  refusal  to  accept  these 
terms  some  of  the  more  advanced  Agitators  proposed  a 
constitution  still  more  democratic  in  character/  and  in 
their  efforts  to  force  it  upon  the  generals  there  was  danger 
of  a  contest  in  the  army. 

The  Second  Civil  War.  — Charles  had  for  some  time  been 
secretly  negotiating  with  the  Scots,  and  he  finally  entered 
into  an  engagement  to  establish  Presbyterianism  in  England 
for  three  years  in  return  for  the  support  of  a  Scottish  army. 
He  was  now  rewarded  by  seeing  two  of  his  opponents 
come  to  blows.  In  1648  a  large  force  of  Scots  crossed  the 
Border.  The  Royalists  rallied  again.  Wales  broke  out  in 
insurrection.  The  war  was  sharp  and  short.  At  Preston 
on  the  17th  of  August  Cromwell  won  a  great  victory  over 
the  Scottish  army.     The  Royalist  cause  was  lost. 

Trial  and  Execution  of  the  King.  —  But  the  patience  of 
the  army  was  exhausted  ;  many  were  beginning  to  feel  that  a 
settlement  of  the  country  was  impossible  so  long  as  Charles 
lived.  Parliament  still  refused  to  come  to  an  understand- 
ing with  the  Independents,  and  renewed  negotiations  with 
the  king,  who,  in  the  meantime,  had  entered  into  an  in- 
trigue with  the  Irish  Catholics.  On  the  6th  of  December 
a  detachment  of  soldiers,  under  Colonel  Pride,  arrested 
the  leaders  of  the  Presbyterian  party  at  the  doors  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  Pride's  Purge,  as  this  act  of  violence 
was  popularly  called,  left  the  Independents  in  control  of 
Parliament.      A  High  Court  of   Justice   was    appointed  to 

1  The  Agreement  of  the  People,  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  26. 


Charles  II  and  Scotland 


321 


try  the  king,  who  had  been  brought  from  Carisbrooke 
Castle,  where  he  had  been  held  a  prisoner  since  the  out- 
break of  the  Scotch  war.  Charles  refused  to  acknowledge 
the  authority  of  the  new  tribunal,  but  nothing  could  save 
him.  He  was  condemned  to  death  as  a  "  tyrant,  traitor, 
and  murderer."  On  the  29th  of  January  he  was  beheaded 
before  Whitehall.     He  died  like  a  saint  and  a  hero. 

The  Establishment  of  the  Commonwealth.  —  The  death  of 
the  king  was  followed  by  the  establishment  of  a  republic. 
Monarchy  and  the  House  of  Lords  were  abolished  as  useless 
and  dangerous,  and  England  was  declared  to  be  a  free  Com- 
monwealth and  therefore  to  be  governed  by  representatives 
of  the  people  without  any  king  or  hereditary  house.  The 
remnant  of  the  Long  Parliament,  derisively  called  the 
Rump,  assumed  the  name  of  Parliament,  and  appointed 
forty-one  persons  to  act  as  an  Executive  Council  of  State. 
Power,  however,  belonged  to  the  army  and  to  its  great 
leader,  Cromwell,  and  the  history  of  the  next  ten  years  is 
the  history  of  their  attempt  to  rule  England. 

Conquest  of  Ireland.  —  England's  immediate  danger  was 
from  without.  Foreign  powers  did  not  recognize  the  new 
republic.  Ireland  was  almost  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the 
Stuart  party,  while  Scotland  offered  to  Prince  Charles  the 
crown.  The  reconquest  of  Ireland  was  Cromwell's  first  task. 
He  landed  at  Dublin  in  August,  1649,  with  a  force  of  nine 
thousand  men.  On  September  nth,  Drogheda  was  carried 
by  storm  and  two  thousand  of  the  garrison  were  put  to  the 
sword.  The  fall  of  Wexford  followed,  accompanied  by 
similar  slaughter.  During  the  next  few  months  town  after 
town  surrendered,  and  when  Cromwell  returned  to  England 
in  the  spring  of  1650  the  reconquest  was  assured.  Out  of 
a  population  of  a  million  and  a  half,  almost  six  hundred 
thousand  had  perished  in  the  nine  years  of  war. 

The  restoration  of  English  ascendency  was  followed  by 
wholesale  confiscations.  Almost  all  the  land  of  the  Irish 
in  Leinster,  Ulster,  and  Munster,  the  three  largest  and 
richest  provinces,  was  divided  among  the  soldiers  of  Crom- 

V 


Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp.  154-156. 

Source-Book, 
251-260. 


Green, 

PP-  574.  575, 

589.  590. 


The 

Cromwellian 

settlement. 


SCOTLAND 

SINCE  1603 

SCALE  OF  ENGLISH  MILES 
0  6  10     20      30  60 


Longitude  5       West  from     4  Greenwich  3 


60RMAY  &  CO.,ENGH'SjN.Y. 


TJie  Scttlctncnt  of  the  Government  323 

well's  army  and  the  adventurers  who  had  contributed  money 
for  carrying  on  the  war.  To  the  Irish  landowners  nothing 
was  left  but  the  rocks  and  bogs  of  Connaught. 

Charles  II  and  Scotland.  —  In  the  summer  of  1650  Prince   Green, 
Charles,  convinced  that  there  was  no  alternative,  accepted   PP-  576-578. 
the  Covenant,  and  was  acknowledged  king  by  the  Scotch. 
The  contest  was  immediately  renewed.     At  the  head  of  a 
large  army  Cromwell  invaded  Scotland,  and  on  the  3d  of 
September  he  won  the  great  victory  of  Dunbar.      During  Dunbar, 
the  following    months  a  large    part    of  Scotland  was  con-    ^"^So- 
quered.     Finally,  in  a  last  effort  to  rally  the  English  Roy- 
alists, Charles  made   a   bold  dash  across   the   Border.     At 
Worcester  he  was  overtaken  by  the  army  of  the  Common-   Worcester, 
wealth,  and  there,  on  the  3d  of  September,  165 1,  the  last   ^^S^- 
battle   of  the   war   was    fought.       Cromwell    won    an   over- 
whelming victory.      Charles    was  forced  to  seek  safety  in 
flight   to  the  Continent,  and  the  Royalists  were  too  much 
broken  to  think  of  rallying  again. 

The  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  followed.  In  sharp  con- 
trast to  the  merciless  treatment  of  Ireland,  the  rule  of  the 
Commonwealth  in  Scotland  was  just  and  wise.  It  was 
Burnet,  a  Scotchman  and  an  enemy  to  Cromwell,  who  de- 
clared, "we  always  reckon  these  eight  years  of  the  usurpa- 
tion a  time  of  great  peace  and  prosperity." 

The  Settlement  of  the  Government.  —  From  the  work  of 
subduing  Ireland  and  Scotland  Cromwell  turned  to  the  far 
more  complicated  task  of  restoring  order  to  England.  The 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  settlement  seemed  unsurmount- 
able.  While  the  nation  was  still  hot  with  the  passions  of 
civil  war,  with  the  whole  local  machinery  disordered,  a 
government  was  to  be  organized  where  there  was  no  agree- 
ment as  to  principle.  Dividing  Royalists  and  Parliamenta- 
rians was  the  execution  of  the  king.  The  question  of 
toleration  sundered  Presbyterians  and  Independents.  Even 
in  the  army  Cromwell  met  with  opposition.  There  was  an 
active  republican  party.  The  disorders  of  the  time  had 
given  rise  to  all  kinds  of  extravagant  opinions.     The  ideals 


324 


TJic  Puritan  Revolution 


Gardiner, 

Puritan 
Rc'iifllution , 
pp.  159,  160. 


End  of  the 
Long  Parlia- 
ment, 1653. 


Green, 

pp.  561-565. 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  162,  163. 

Old  South 

Leaflets, 

No.  28. 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  164-166. 

Green, 

PP-  565-567- 


Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  166-171, 

Green, 

PP-  567-570. 

Old  South 

Leaflets, 

No.  27. 


of  Cromwell  were  not  the  ideals  of  the  nation,  and  to  allow 
the  people  to  have  their  way  meant  to  give  up  most  of  those 
things  for  which  the  Independents  had  fought.  For  this 
Cromwell  was  not  ready.  He  was  not,  however,  by  nature 
a  despot,  and  over  and  over  he  attempted  to  secure  the 
cooperation  of  the  people. 

The  Long  Parliament  was  fast  becoming  unpopular.  The 
members  showed  little  desire  to  bring  about  that  speedy 
settlement  of  the  country  for  which  the  army  contended, 
and  charges  of  corruption  were  freely  raised  against  them. 
Almost  thirteen  years  had  elapsed  since  the  last  election. 
Parliament  had  lost  over  two-thirds  of  its  membership,  and 
nevertheless,  in  spite  of  Cromwell's  repeated  urging,  it 
showed  no  readiness  to  dissolve  itself.  At  last  patience 
was  exhausted.  Cromwell  rose  one  day  in  his  seat  in  the 
House,  crying,  "  I  will  put  an  end  to  this.  It  is  not  fit 
that  you  should  sit  here  any  longer,"  and  he  commanded 
his  soldiers  to  clear  the  hall. 

Cromwell  was  now  master  of  the  country,  but  he  did  not 
wish  to  rule  alone,  and  he  shrank  from  calling  for  new  elections. 
So  he  summoned  to  his  aid  "  godly  men  to  rule  until  the 
people  were  fitted  to  act."  The  new  assembly  was  called  in 
derision  Barebone's  Parliament,  because  a  certain  Praise-God 
Barebone  sat  in  it.  It  contained  many  men  of  character  and 
position,  but  unfortunately  most  of  the  members  were  vision- 
aries, who  at  once  attempted  extravagant  reforms.  Crom- 
well's strong  common  sense  was  opposed  to  such  a  course, 
and  he  induced  the  assembly  to  declare  its  own  dissolution. 

The  Instrument  of  Government  and  the  Protectorate. — The 
next  scheme  of  government  had  what  Cromwell  had  always 
advocated,  "somewhat  of  monarchy  in  it."  By  the  Instru- 
ment of  Government,  a  constitutional  document  drawn  up 
by  some  of  Cromwell's  supporters,  power  was  vested  in  a 
Protector,  a  Council  of  State,  and  a  Parliament  of  a  single 
house.  There  was  to  be  a  redistribution  of  seats  in  Eng- 
land, depriving  small  hamlets  of  the  franchise  while  giv- 
ing votes  to  the   new  towns  and  more  populous  counties, 


The  histrnment  of  Government 


325 


and  representation  was  accorded  to  Ireland  and  Scotland. 
By  a  system  of  checks  and  constitutional  limitations  all 
danger   of    either   executive    or    Parliamentary   aVjsolutism 


Oliver  Cromwell 

Ufizzi,  Florence.     Painted  by  Van  der  Plaas;  generally  ascribed  to  Sir 
Peter  Lely 

was  to  be  averted.  Cromwell  was  named  Protector,  with 
command  of  the  army  and  navy.  In  September,  1654,  the 
first  Parliament  under  the  Instrument  came  together.  It 
proceeded  at  once  to  question  the  authority  of  the  docu- 


326 


The  Puritaji  Rci'oluiioi 


Old  South 
Leaflets, 
No.  62. 

Green, 
]'•  571- 

Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution , 
pp.  172,  173. 


Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  176-180. 

Green, 

PP-  593-597- 


ment  under  which  it  liad  been  chosen,  and  asserted  its 
claim  to  frame  a  new  constitution.  Finding  that  he  could 
not  control  the  House,  Cromwell  dissolved  it. 

During  the  next  eighteen  months  England  was  under 
military  rule.  Republican  and  Royalist  plots  to  overthrow 
the  government  were  discovered,  and  there  was  much  oppo- 
sition to  Cromwell's  attempt  to  collect  the  taxes  as  author- 
ized by  the  Instrument.  He  therefore  had  resort  to  martial 
law,  and  dividing  England  into  ten  districts,  placed  a 
major-general  over  each,  with  power  to  maintain  order  and 
to  collect  the  revenue. 

The  Humble  Petition  and  Advice.  —  In  1656  need  of 
money  for  the  war  with  Spain  led  Cromwell  to  make 
another  attempt  to  secure  the  aid  of  Parliament  in  carry- 
ing on  the  government.  To  avoid  the  contest  for  authority 
which  was  sure  to  arise  with  a  freely  elected  House,  one 
hundred  of  the  members  returned  most  likely  to  oppose 
the  Protector  were  excluded  at  the  opening  of  the  session. 
The  remaining  members  showed  great  docility,  and  with  a 
desire  to  strengthen  Cromwell's  position  proceeded  to  amend 
the  Instrument  by  drawing  up  the  Petition  and  Advice. 
There  was  to  be  an  Upper  House,  and  the  Protector  was 
given  the  power  of  naming  his  successor.  It  was  also  pro- 
posed that  he  should  take  the  title  of  king,  but  Cromwell 
would  not  agree  to  this,  no  doubt  because  of  the  opposition 
of  the  army.  The  Petition  and  Advice  showed  a  return  to 
the  forms  of  the  old  constitution,  but  it  brought  no  improve- 
ment in  the  working  of  the  government.  In  January,  1658, 
Parliament  met  under  the  new  arrangement,  but  the  two 
Houses  fell  at  once  to  quarrelling.  After  a  session  of  two 
weeks  Cromwell  ordered  a  dissolution.  "The  Lord,"  he 
said,  "judge  between  me  and  you."  This  was  Cromwell's 
last  attempt  to  establish  a  Parliamentary  government. 

Foreign  Relations.  —  The  foreign  policy  of  the  Puritan 
government  was  vigorous  and  brilliantly  successful.  Crom- 
well's genius  gained  for  England  a  greater  place  in  Europe 
than  that  which  she  had  secured  under  Elizabeth  and  lost 


The  Navigation  Act  327 

under  James.     The  close  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  in  1648 
marks  the  transition  from  reUgious  to  commercial  and  politi- 
cal  considerations  as    the  determining  force  in   the  inter- 
national politics  of  Kurope.     The  Puritan  Commonwealth 
could  not  fail,  however,  to  take  some  account  of  religion  in 
its  foreign  policy.     Cromwell's  declared  object  was  to  estab- 
lish a  union  of  l'rolcst;iut  Europe  under  P^ngland's  leader-    See  Milton's 
ship.    A  proposed  alliance  with  France  was  delayed  until  the    sonnet, 
persecution  of  the  Vaudois  '  had  been  stopped,  and  war  was   Lord\)iy 
waged  against  Spain  in  part  at  least  because  of  her  tradi-    slaughtered 
tional  position  as  the  great  Catholic  power  of  Europe  ;  but  ^^"''•^• 
the  chief  work  of  the  Puritan  government  was  not  concerned 
with  religion.     The  most  durable  achievement  of  the  Pro- 
tectorate was  to  break  down  the  trading  monopolies  of  the 
Dutch  and  Spanish  in  Europe  and  in  America,  and  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  England's  maritime  supremacy. 

The  Navigation  Act.  —  Commercial    rivalry  between  the    Bright,  II, 
Dutch   and   the    English    had    existed    since    the    time    of  PP-  698-701. 
James  I.     In   1650  the  Dutch  were  at  the  height  of  their 
power.     Their  merchant  vessels  were  the  best  in  the  world,    Gardiner, 
and  they  had  a  monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade  of  Europe.    P'^f'^^n 

-r,  ,T  TTi-  11-IT--  .  Revolution, 

l\\  1651   the  Long  Parliament  passed   the   Navigation  Act,    p  ^53 

the  first  of  a  series  of  measures  intended  to  build  up  Eng- 
lish  commerce.     The   importation   of  goods  into  England   Am.  Hist, 
except  in  English  vessels    or   in    the  ships  of  the  country   l^,^'''^'^'^' 
which  produced  the  goods  was  forbidden.     The  Navigation 
Act  dealt  a  severe    blow  to  the  Dutch  carrying  trade,  and 
led   in  1652  to  a  war  with   Holland.     Under  the  manage-   Traill,  iv, 
raent  of  Sir  Henry  Vane  the  English  navy  had  been  put  in   PP-  -64-270 
fine  condition,  partly  as  a  counterpoise  to  the  army.      In 
command  of  the  fleet  was  Blake,  England's  greatest  seaman 
before  Nelson.     Opposed  to  Blake  was  the  famous  Dutch 
admiral,  Van  Tromp.     The  two  fleets  were  well  matched, 
and  a  series  of  bloody  fights  took  place  during  the    two 
years  of  the  war.     In  the  end  the  States  were  forced  to  treat 

1  A  sect  inhabiting  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  and  professing  a  Protestantism 
which  antedates  the  Reformation. 


328 


TJie  Puritan  Revolution 


Green, 

PP-  591-593. 

596- 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp.  174,  17s, 


Green, 

PP-  572,  573- 


for    peace.     The  maritime    ascendency  of   England  began 
witli  the  dechne   of  the  Dutch  naval  power. 

War  with  Spain. — The  hostility  of  Europe  was  soon 
converted  to  a  desire  for  the  friendship  of  the  Common- 
wealth. When  Cromwell  met  Parliament  in  1654  he  could 
truly  say,  "  There  is  not  a  nation  in  Europe  but  is  very 
willing  to  ask  a  good  understanding  with  you."  Spain  and 
France  were  then  at  war.  Cromwell  first  offered  his  sup- 
port to  Spain  in  return  for  Dunkirk  and  aid  in  the  recon- 
quest  of  Calais.  In  addition  he  demanded  freedom  of 
commerce  in  the  West  Indies  and  religious  liberty  for  the 
English  living  under  the  Spanish  government.  These  terms 
were  refused,  and  thereupon  Cromwell  sent  Blake  to  attack 
the  Spanish  West  Indies,  and  offered  England's  alliance  to 
France.  This  line  of  policy  was  crowned  with  success. 
Dunkirk  surrendered  to  the  French  and  was  placed  in  English 
hands,  the  Spanish  fleets  were  destroyed  by  Blake,  Jamaica 
passed  into  the  possession  of  England,  and  Spain's  commer- 
cial monopoly  was  finally  broken.  But  F^ngland's  weight  had 
been  thrown  on  the  side  of  France,  a  growing  and  ambitious 
power,  destined  to  become  a  dangerous  rival. 

England  under  Puritan  Rule.  — The  triumphs  of  the  Com- 
monwealth abroad  filled  even  its  opponents  with  pride. 
Nor  were  grounds  for  satisfaction  entirely  lacking  at  home. 

Cromwell's  rule  was  stern,  but  he  rarely  used  violence  or 
unnecessary  severity.  Provided  his  authority  was  respected, 
there  was  little  interference  with  individual  rights.  Order 
was  well  maintained,  and  all  risings,  whether  of  Royalists 
or  Levellers,^  were  put  down  with  a  strong  hand.  Taxation 
was  heavy,  but  industry  was  not  unduly  burdened.  The 
Royalists  were  taxed  at  a  higher  rate  than  others,  on  the 
ground  that  their  hostility  made  necessary  the  large  and 
costly  military  establishment.  By  an  ordinance  issued  in 
1654,  the  Church  was  reorganized.  Religious  worship  was 
to  be  established.  Tithes  were  retained  and  the  rights  of 
patronage  were  respected.    A  board  of  Triers  was  appointed 

1  A  party  holding  extreme  democratic  opinions. 


Fall  of  the  CoDunonwealth 


329 


to  examine  into  the  fitness  of  ministers  presented  to  livings. 
So  long  as  a  man  was  of  godly  life  it  mattered  not  whether 
he  was  a  Presbyterian  or  an  Independent.  Toleration  was 
the  principle  and,  with  some  exceptions,  the  practice  of 
Cromwell's  government.  At  first  there  was  little  interfer- 
ence with  the  Episcopalians,  but  after  a  time  the  Anglican 
worship  was  prohibited  as  tending  to  stir  up  disaffection. 
The  prohibition  was  not,  however,  rigorously  enforced,  and 
zealous  worshippers  continued  to  meet,  only  more  privately. 
Some  protection  was  given  to  Catholics,  and  the  Jews,  who 
had  been  excluded  from  England  since  the  time  of  Edward  I, 
were  permitted  to  return.  Had  Cromwell  lived  longer  he 
might  have  effected  many  improvements.  The  reform  of 
the  courts  and  the  equalizing  of  the  electoral  system  were 
matters  that  he  had  at  heart.  But  Cromwell's  work  was  Death  of 
done.  He  and  his  generation  were  hopelessly  at  odds. 
He  was  as  far  in  advance  of  his  age  as  Strafford  was  behind 
it.  On  the  3d  of  September,  the  anniversary  of  Dunbar  Green,  p. 598, 
and  Worcester,  he  died,  worn  out  with  grief  and  anxiety. 

Fall  of  the  Commonwealth.  —  Richard  Cromwell,  Oliver's  Green, 
eldest  son,  was  made  Protector,  but  he  could  not  succeed  PP- 
where  his  father  had  failed.  His  desire  was  to  lean  upon 
the  new  Parliament,  which  was  convened  in  January,  1659, 
but  the  army  forced  him  to  order  a  dissolution.  A  month 
later  Richard  abdicated.  During  the  next  few  weeks 
power  was  in  the  hands  of  the  soldiers.  They  replaced 
the  Rump  at  Westminster,  but  when  it  strove  to  rule  they 
overthrew  it.  After  a  brief  attempt  at  military  government, 
they  again  restored  Parliament.  General  Monk,  who  was  Monk, 
in  command  of  the  forces  in  Scotland,  determined  to  put 
an  end  to  the  anarchy.  At  the  head  of  his  army  he  marched 
to  London  and  declared  for  a  free  Parliament.  He  found 
support  on  all  sides.  The  nation  was  weary  of  martial 
rule,  and  even  the  Presbyterians  demanded  the  return  of 
the  old  dynasty.  The  array,  tricked  and  abandoned  by 
its  leaders,  could  make  no  opposition.  Negotiations  were 
opened  with  Charles  H,  who  finally  signed  a  declaration, 


Cromwell, 
1658. 


3 -600. 


330 


The  Puritan  Rcvoliitioti 


Recall  of  Ihe 
Stuarts,  1660. 


known  as  the  Declaration  of  Breda,  agreeing  to  such  a  set- 
tlement of  the  country  as  Parliament  should  approve.  On 
the  ist  of  May,  1660,  the  new  Parliament^  resolved  that, 
"  according  to  the  ancient  and  fundamental  laws  of  this 
Kingdom,  the  Government  is,  and  ought  to  be,  by  King, 
Lords,  and  Commons."  A  month  later  Charles  landed  at 
Dover  amidst  rejoicing  crowds. 

The  Failure  of  Puritanism.  —  The  Puritan  rebellion  had 
ended  in  apparent  failure.  In  the  contest  against  the 
despotism  of  the  second  vStuart,  Parliament  and  the  nation 
were  victorious,  but  religious  differences  aroused  strife 
among  the  conquerors.  The  cause  of  religious  liberty 
triumphed  with  Croiaiwell,  but  the  victory  was  based  on 
force,  and  found  little  response  in  the  nation,  not  yet 
ready  for  the  ideals  of  the  Puritan  leader.  The  result  was 
the  reaction  which  we  call  the  Restoration.  The  over- 
severity  of  Puritan  rule  led  to  the  shamelessness  of  society 
under   the    third    Stuart.     Toleration   at  the    point    of   the 

sword  ended  in  the  penal 
code  against  dissent.  The 
outcome  of  the  execution 
of  Charles  was  the  doc- 
trine of  non-resistance. 
Nevertheless,  Puritanism 
was  far  from  dead.  The 
spirit  that  found  expres- 
sion in  the  writings  of 
Milton  and  Bunyan  left 
a  lasting  impress  on  the 
national  character.  Nor 
Seal  of  the  Commonwealth  was  the  work  of  the  Puri- 

tan revolution  lost  with  the  fall  of  the  Commonwealth.  A 
generation  later  it  won  its  real  triumph  in  the  Bill  of  Rights 
and  the  Act  of  Toleration  establishing  the  principles  of 
constitutional  rule   and  religious  freedom. 

1  Known  as  a  Convention  or  Convention  Parliament,  because  a  king 
had  not  called  it. 


Important   Events  33 1 


Important   Events 

James  I,  1603- 162 5. 

Hampton  Court  Conference,  1604. 
Founding  of  Jamestown,  1607. 
Beginning;  of  Thirty  Years'  War,  1618. 
Founding  of  Plymoutli,  1620. 
Impeachment  of  Bacon,  1621. 

Charles  I,  162 5- 1649. 

Petition  of  Right,  1628. 

Assassination  of  Buckingham,  1628. 

Founding  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  1629. 

Personal  government,  1 629-1 640. 

Ship-money  decision,  1638. 

War  with  Scotland,  1639. 

Meeting  of  Long  Parliament,  1640. 

Execution  of  Strafford,  1641. 

Outbreak  of  Civil  War,  1642. 

Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  1643. 

Naseby,  1645. 

Second  Civil  War,  1648. 

Pride's  Purge,  1648. 

Execution  of  Charles.  1649. 

Commonwealth  and  Protectorate,  1649- 1660. 

Worcester,  1651. 

Navigation  Act,  1651. 

Expulsion  of  Rump,  1653. 

F^stablishment  of  a  Protectorate,  1653. 

Jamaica  conquered,  1655. 

Death  of  Cromwell,  1658. 

Recall  of  the  Stuarts,  1660. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE   RESTORATION   AND   THE   REVOLUTION 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 

Adams  and  Stephens,  Henderson,  Hill,  as  before, 

Pepys,  Dinry  ami  Correspondence. 

Deioe,  Journal  of  the  Plague,  i66^. 

Evelyn,  Diary  and  Correspondence. 

Taylor,  England  under  Charles  If. 

Figgis,  English  Plistory  from  Original  Sources, 

Special  Authorities 

Lingard,  History  of  England. 

Macaulay,  History  of  Etigland. 

Hallam,  Trevelyan,  as  before. 

Lodge,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  VIII. 

Traill,  Shaftesbury,  William  III,  Social  England,  IV. 

Macaulay,  Essays  07i  Sir  IVilliain  Temple,  and  on  the  Comic  Dramatists 

of  the  Restoration. 
Scott,  Prince  Rtipert. 

Imaginative  Literature 

Scott,  Old  Mortality,  Peveril  of  the  Peak. 
Shorthouse,  John  Inglesant. 

Green,  The  Return  of  Charles  II.  — The  recall  of  the  Stuarts  did 

pp.  602-605.  j^Qj.  iiiean  that  the  work  of  the  last  twenty  years  was  to  be 
Bright,  II,  all  undone.  The  overthrow  of  the  Commonwealth  had  been 
722-726.  brought  about  by  a  party  which  desired  a  setdement  of  the 

government  in  accordance  with  the  constitutional  relations 
that  existed  at  the  close  of  the  first  session  of  the  Long  Par- 

332 


The  Return  of  Charles  II 


333 


liament.  To  the  people  generally  the  restoration  of  the 
monarchy  meant  a  return  to  government  by  king  and  Parlia- 
ment. Charles  II  was  shrewd  enough  to  realize  this,  and 
the  men  whom  he  called  to  his  council  were  moderate  in 
temper,  Royalists  or  Presbyterians.  Edward  Hyde,  later 
Earl  of  Clarendon,  was  appointed  chancellor.  A  leader  of 
the  Long  Parliament  during  its  first  session,  then  the  faithful 
adviser  of  Charles  I,  Clarendon  now  became  Charles  II's 
chief  minister.  ' 


The  Ship  Nasehy,  later  the  Royal  Charles 

On  which  Charles   II   returned  to  England 


The  Convention  Parliament  continued  to  sit  during  the 
year  1660.  Its  duty  was  to  execute  the  articles  of  the 
Declaration  of  Breda,  and  to  provide  for  the  needs  of 
the  crown.  An  Act  of  Amnesty  was  passed,  but  most  of  the 
late  king's  judges  were  excepted,  and  in  the  end  thirteen  of 
the  regicides,  together  with  Sir  Harry  Vane,  were  executed. 
Milton  barely  escaped  prosecution.  The  body  of  Cromwell 
was  dragged  from  its  tomb  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and 
hanged,  and  the  bodies  of  Pym  and  Blake  were  dug  up  and 
thrown  into  a  common  pit.  A  great  deal  of  property  had 
changed  hands  during  the  revolution,  through  confiscation,  or 
sales  often  more  or  less  forced.     The  Church  and  the  king 


Settlement 
of  the 
government, 


334  The  Restoration  and  tJie  Revolution 

received  back  their  lands,  but  private  sales  were  declared 
valid.  The  horror  of  military  rule  was  shown  by  the  speed 
with  which  the  army  of  the  Commonwealth  was  disbanded, 
only  two  regiments  being  retained.  Feudal  dues  and  pur- 
veyance were  abolished,  and  their  place  was  supplied  by 
an  excise.  Tonnage  and  poundage  were  granted  the  king 
for  life,  and  the  whole  revenue  of  the  crown  was  fixed  at 
;j^i, 200,000  a  year.  An  attempt  to  settle  the  Church  by  a 
compromise  establishing  a  form  of  government  partly  Epis- 
copal and  partly  Presbyterian  in  character  was  wrecked  by 
the  fear  that  it  might  open  the  way  to  toleration  of  Roman 
Catholics.  This  question  remained  undecided  when  the 
Convention  was  dissolved. 

The  Cavalier  Parliament.  — The  tide  of  loyalty  was  rising 
fast.  The  Parliament  called  in  1661  was  fired  with  zeal  for 
Church  and  king.  It  included  not  more  than  fifty  Presby- 
terians, and  its  reactionary  temper  was  at  once  apparent. 
Every  member  was  ordered  to  receive  the  communion  ac- 
cording to  the  rites  of  the  Anglican  Church,  and  the  League 
and  Covenant  was  solemnly  burnt  in  Westminster  Hall. 
Formal  resolutions  were  passed  declaring  that  there  was  no 
legislative  power  in  Parliament  without  the  royal  sanction, 
that  the  king  was  the  rightful  commander  of  all  forces,  and 
that  it  was  unlawful  for  either  House  to  make  war  against 
the  crown. 

Settlement  of  the  Church.  — The  most  important  task  of 
the  new  Parliament  was  the  settlement  of  the  religious  ques- 
tion. A  conference  called  in  April  at  the  Savoy  Palace  be- 
tween Presbyterian  and  Episcopalian  divines  showed  great 
bitterness  of  feeling  and  failed  to  devise  a  basis  of  com- 
promise. The  whole  question  was  left  to  Parliament.  The 
chief  characteristics  of  the  predominant  element  in  the 
nation  were  devotion  to  the  English  Church  and  detestation 
of  Roman  Catholics  and  Nonconformists,  and  legislation 
reflected  this  temper.  In  1662  an  Act  of  Uniformity  was 
passed  requiring  all  clergymen  and  schoolmasters  and  fel- 
lows of  colleges  to  accept  unfeignedly  everything  contained 


Settlement  of  the   Chitich 


335 


in  the  prayer  book.  As  a  result,  nearly  two  thousand 
clergymen,  abo'U  one-fifth  of  the  whole  number,  including 
the  most  learned  and  active  men  in  the  Church,  were  de- 
prived of  their  charges.  They  were  the  leaders  of  the 
party  which  had  continued  to  hold  to  the  early  Puritan 
idea  of  remaining  within  the  national  Church  in  the  hope  of 
moulding  it.  They  were  now  forced  to  establish  com- 
munions outside  of  the  Church.  Together  with  the  Inde- 
pendents, Baptists,  Quakers,  and  other  sects,  they  formed  a 
large  Nonconformist  body. 


(the  famous  petition  crovn) 
The  apprehension  with  which  Dissenters '  were  regarded   Penal 


was  shown  in  a  series  of  penal  statutes.  The  towns  were 
the  stronghold  of  Presbyterianism,  and  in  1661  the  Corpora- 
tion Act  was  passed,  requiring  all  holders  of  municipal  office 
to  take  the  Sacrament  in  accordance  with  the  rites  of  the 
Anglican  Church,  to  renounce  the  Covenant,  and  to  take 
the  oath  of  non-resistance."  By  the  Conventicle  Act  of 
1664,  religious  meetings  where  more  than  four  persons  in 
addition  to  the  household  came  together  were  prohibited 
unless  in  accordance  with  the  forms  of  the  established 
Church.      A  third  violation  of  this  law  was  punished   by 

1  So  the  Nonconformists  were  now  commonly  called. 

2  Doctrine  of  non-resistance  as  embodied  in  the  oath  of  allegiance : 
"I,  A  B,  do  declare  and  believe  that  it  is  not  lawful  upon  any  pretence 
whatever  to  take  up  arms  against  the  king." 


statutes 

against 

Dissenters. 


336  The  Restoration  and  the  Revolution 

transportation.      Another   restrictive    measure   was    passed 

under    circumstances    of    peculiar   infamy.      In    1665    the 

plague  was  raging  in  London  and  most  of  the  estabhshed 

clergy  had  fled  in  panic.    The  Dissenters,  a  far  more  earnest 

set  of  men,  undertook  the  duties  so  abandoned,  tending  the 

sick  and   holding  funeral  services.      Parliament,   at  a  safe 

Source- Hook,    distance  in  Oxford,  where  it  had  gone  to  avoid  the  plague, 

pp.  268-270.     passed  the  Five-Mile  Act,  forbidding  all  clergymen  who  had 

not  subscribed  the  Act  of  Uniformity  or  who  would   not 

swear  to  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  and  take  an  oath 

never  to  "endeavour  any  alteration  of  government  in  Church 

or  State,"  to  come  within  five  miles  of  a  town  or  Parliament 

borough. 

Bright,  II,  The  Dutch  "War.  —  Under  Charles  II  the  old  strife  between 

735-737-  England  and  Holland  was  renewed.    The  commercial  rivalry 

Green 

pp.  628, 629,     of  the  two  countries  was  growing  keener  and  disputes  oc- 
635.  curred  daily,  but  thus  far  the  Dutch  retained  their  superi- 

ority. From  the  outset  Charles  had  shown  genuine  interest 
in  the  development  of  English  colonies  and  trade,  but  his 
opposition  to  Holland  was  strengthened  by  personal  resent- 
ment for  insults  received  from  the  Dutch  government  during 
his  exile. 

Quarrels  between  Dutch  and  English  merchants  on  the 
coast  of  Guinea  led  to  hostilities  between  the  two  countries 
in  1664,  although  there  was  no  formal  declaration  of  war  until 
the  year  following.  In  England  the  war  was  popular,  and 
Parhament  voted  what  was  then  the  very  large  grant  of 
;^2,50o,ooo  to  carry  it  on.  Success  was  at  first  on  the  side 
of  the  English.  They  gained  possession  of  the  Dutch  colo- 
nies on  the  Hudson  and  in  the  West  Indies,  and  in  June, 
1665,  the  fleet  under  the  Duke  of  York,  brother  of  the  king, 
won  a  great  victory  off  Lowestoft.  The  next  year  the  tide 
turned.  After  a  contest  of  two  days  the  Dutch,  commanded 
by  De  Ruyter,  succeeded  in  defeating  the  English  in  the 
Downs.  On  the  whole,  England  was  superior  in  ships  and 
gunnery,  but  this  advantage  was  lost  through  the  bad  man- 
agement and  corruption  of  the  government.     The  generous 


Fall  of  Clarendon 


337 


grants  of  Parliament  for  carrying  on  the  war  were  appropri- 
ated to  the  king's  pleasure,  and  in  1667,  in  the  mistaken 
expectation  that  peace  was  at  hand,  the  fleet  was  dismantled. 
The  coast  of  England  lay  unprotected,  and  at  once  De  Ruyter 
sailed  up  the  Thames  and  burnt  the  shipping  in  the  Medvvay. 
For  several  days  London  was  held  in  a  state  of  blockade, 
but  the  Dutch  did  not  push  their  advantage,  for  they  were 
desirous  to  bring  the  war  to  an  end.  Bound  by  treaty  obliga- 
tions, France  had  joined  Holland  in  1666.  Little  aid  had 
been  given,  however,  and  the  Dutch  were  coming  to  fear  the 
intentions  of  their  ally.  In  fact,  Louis  XIV  desired  nothing 
so  much  as  to  see  the  two  maritime  powers  destroy  one 
another.  In  July,  1667,  the  peace  of  Breda  was  signed. 
Under  the  treaty  England  was  secured  in  her  possession  of 
the  Dutch  colonies  in  America. 

Fall  of  Clarendon.  —  The  conclusion  of  the  Dutch  war 
was  followed  by  the  overthrow  of  Clarendon.  For  some 
time  dissatisfaction  with  the  government  had  been  growing. 
The  Dissenters  smarted  under  their  disabilities.  The  fears 
of  Churchmen  were  aroused  by  efforts  of  the  king  to  obtain 
toleration  for  the  Catholics.  The  sale  of  Dunkirk  to  France 
in  1662,  although  probably  no  real  disadvantage  to  England, 
touched  the  national  pride.  There  was  general  indignation 
over  the  mismanagement  of  the  war.  Just  at  this  time  too 
the  country  was  passing  through  a  period  of  economic  de- 
pression. Trade  was  at  a  standstill,  a  sudden  fall  in  the 
price  of  wheat  forced  down  rents  one-fourth,  and  London, 
which  in  1665  had  lost  one-fifth  of  its  population  by  the 
plague,  was  in  the  following  year  devastated  by  a  terrible 
fire  which  broke  out  on  the  3d  of  September  and  raged 
for  three  days. 

The  king  did  not  escape  popular  disapproval,  but  the 
attacks  of  Parliament  were  directed  against  Clarendon. 
Charles  made  little  effort  to  save  his  minister,  whose  serious 
hfe  he  felt  a  constraint  and  whom  he  knew  to  be  opposed 
to  his  plans  for  Catholic  toleration.  In  the  hope  of  win- 
ning  popularity  he    dismissed   Clarendon    from    the   chan- 


Source-Book. 
pp.  274,  275. 


Treaty  of 
Breda,  1667. 


Bright,  II, 
730,  736-739- 


Source-Book, 
pp.  270-274. 


338  TJie  Resioration  and  the  Revolution 

cellorship.  A  formal  impeachment  by  the  House  of  Com- 
mons followed  (1667),  but  the  fallen  minister  saved  himself 
by  flight  to  France,  where  he  lived  in  banishment  until  his 
death.  Clarendon's  ideal  was  the  system  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  an  Episcopal  Church  dependent  upon  the  crown, 
irresponsible  power  wielded  by  an  enlightened  and  con- 
scientious king.  He  repeated  the  mistake  of  Strafford  in 
endeavoring  to  make  of  a  Stuart  a  ruler  after  the  Eliza- 
bethan type.  The  ministerial  crisis  of  1667  was  accom- 
panied by  a  real  advance  in  constitutional  government. 
The  right  of  the  Commons  to  control  taxation  had  been 
secured  by  the  Long  Parliament.  The  principle  was  now 
established  that  supplies  should  not  be  diverted  from  the 
use  for  which  they  were  voted,  and  that  the  national  ac- 
counts should  be  subject  to  parliamentary  inspection. 
Green,  Rellglous  Policy  of  Charles  II.  —  Charles  H  had  far  more 

pp.  629-632.  ^^(,j.  ^^^  ability  than  his  father,  but  on  the  other  hand  less 
principle  and  less  earnestness.  Selfishness,  love  of  pleasure, 
were  the  dominant  notes  in  his  character.  At  the  outset  of  the 
reign  he  showed  little  ambition,  but,  surrounding  himself  with 
men  of  his  own  kind,  led  a  life  of  dissipation  which  made  the 
court  a  national  shame.  The  king  was  avowedly  a  sceptic, 
but  his  sympathies  were  with  the  Catholics,  and  his  only 
interference  in  the  policy  of  the  government  had  been  in 
their  behalf.  In  1660  he  had  asked  Parliament  to  grant 
general  religious  liberty,  and  in  1662  he  issued  a  declaration 
in  favor  of  toleration  and  strove  to  make  arrangements  with 
Parliament  enabling  him  to  mitigate  the  harshness  of  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  under  the  power  which  he  claimed  of  dis- 
pensing with  the  laws  in  particular  cases.  Fear  of  popery 
was  the  strongest  feeling  in  the  nation  at  this  time,  and  the 
Cavalier  Parliament  answered  the  king's  proposal  by  deny- 
ing that  he  possessed  the  dispensing  power  and  by  banish- 
ing all  Roman  Catholic  priests. 
Bright,  II,  Clarendon's  overthrow  coincided  with  a  change  in  the  atti- 

7'^^*  tude  of  the  king.     Charles  had  learned    that  dependence 

upon  Parliament  hindered  his  freedom  to  do  as  he  liked. 


Charles  II  and  France 


339 


Bright,  II, 
739.  740. 


Green, 

Fp.  633-637. 


He  objected  to  interference  in  the  expenditure  of  the  court, 
to  criticism  of  his  manner  of  hfe.  Moreover,  he  was  sincere 
in  his  wish  to  reheve  the  CathoHcs  from  the  oppression  of 
the  penal  laws,  and  he  realized  that  the  opposition  of  Parlia- 
ment blocked  the  way  to  this.  For  these  reasons  he  hence- 
forth definitely  strove  to  free  himself  from  parliamentary 
restraint. 

Charles  II  and  France. 
—  After  the  fall  of  Clar- 
endon, Charles  became 
his  own  chief  minister, 
but  certain  men,  Lauder- 
dale, Ashley,  Clifford, 
Buckingham,  and  Arling- 
ton were  from  time  to 
time  taken  into  his  con- 
fidence, and  they  came  to 
be  known  as  the  Cabal. ^ 

In  spite  of  Parlia- 
ment's fear  of  a  military 
rule,  the  king  had  al- 
ready succeeded  in  pro- 
viding himself  with  a 
small  army.  He  had 
used  the  excuse  of  a 
fanatical  outbreak  in  London  (1661)  to  retain  two  regiments 
under  arms,  and  he  soon  increased  the  force  to  five  thousand 
men.  In  Scotland,  now  no  longer  united  with  England, 
Lauderdale  had  been  active  in  crushing  Presbyterianism, 
and  had  built  up  a  standing  army. 

Money,  however,  was   necessary  for  the  success    of  his   Louis  XIV 
plans,  and  for  this  Charles  looked  to  France.     Louis  XIV 
met  him  more  than  half-way.     Already  the  young  French 
king  was  meditating  those  plans  of  aggression  which  made 

1  At  this  time  Cabal  meant  simply  a  body  of  secret  advisers.  The  popu- 
lar detestation  which  these  men  inspired,  coupled  with  the  accidental  fact 
that  their  names  spelt  Cabal,  gave  the  word  its  later  odious  meaning. 


Louis  XIV 


340 


The  Restoration  and  the  Revohition 


Triple 

Alliance, 

16O8. 


Treaty  of 

Dover, 

1670. 

Bright,  II, 

742-744. 

Green, 

pp.  637-639. 


Declaration 
of  Indul- 
gence, 1672. 


France  during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century 
a  menace  to  the  freedom  of  Europe.  In  1667,  while  osten- 
sibly in  alliance  with  the  Dutch,  he  made  a  secret  treaty 
with  Charles,  in  which  he  promised  to  give  no  help  to  Hol- 
land, on  condition  of  being  allowed  a  free  hand  in  the  Spanish 
Netherlands. 

In  the  following  year,  however,  Charles  formed,  with 
Holland  and  Sweden,  the  Triple  Alliance,  to  put  an  end 
to  the  war  between  France  and  Spain.  A  strong  feeling 
against  the  French  was  springing  up  in  England,  and  the 
king's  action  was  very  popular.  In  reality,  Charles  was 
inspired  chiefly  by  a  desire  to  make  Louis  realize  his  power. 
The  result  of  his  course  was  the  treaty  of  Dover  in  1670. 
By  its  terms  the  English  king  was  to  aid  Louis  in  making 
war  upon  the  Dutch  and  in  dismembering  the  Spanish 
empire  on  the  death  of  the  reigning  king.  He  was  also  to 
acknowledge  himself  a  Catholic.  In  return,  Louis  was  to 
pay  Charles  a  large  pension  while  the  war  with  the  Dutch 
lasted,  and  to  lend  him  the  aid  of  French  troops  to  suppress 
any  opposition  in  England  to  his  plan  to  relieve  the  Cath- 
olics. In  addition,  England  was  to  receive  Dutch  and 
Spanish  territories  in  case  Louis  succeeded  in  his  plans. 

The  treaty  of  Dover  was  kept  a  profound  secret  from 
every  one  except  Clifford  and  Arlington.  Its  effects,  how- 
ever, were  at  once  apparent.  In  1671  Charles,  having 
obtained  from  the  Commons  a  grant  of  ^800,000,  on  the 
plea  that  money  was  needed  to  enable  England  to  hold  her 
own  against  France  as  well  as  Holland,  prorogued  Parlia- 
ment. As  yet  Charles  dared  not  announce  himself  a  Catho- 
lic, but  early  in  1672,  under  the  power  which  he  claimed, 
he  issued  a  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  suspending  the  exe- 
cution of  all  penal  laws  in  matters  ecclesiastical.  By  this 
act  complete  religious  liberty  was  established.  Although 
done  primarily  in  the  interest  of  the  Catholics,  Dissenters 
were  included  in  its  benefits,  in  the  hope  of  winning  them 
over  to  support  the  government.  The  effect,  however,  was 
just  the  reverse.     With  unusual  clearsightedness,  the  Dis- 


IVar  ivith  Holland 


341 


senters  recognized  the  dangerous  possibilities  in  allowing 
the  crown  such  arbitrary  power,  and  they  joined  with  church- 
men in  protesting  against  the  measure. 

War  with  Holland.  — The  Declaration  of  Indulgence  was   Bright,  ii, 
followed  by  a  declaration  of  war  against  Holland.     In  the  743-745- 
contest  that  now  broke  out  the  Dutch  held  their  own  on   Green, 
the  sea,  but  on  the  land  they  were  no  match  for  the  forces   PP-  '^39-641. 
which  Louis  sent  against  them.     Holland  was  invaded.     In 
the  civil  disorder  that  followed,  the  existing  government 
was   overtlirown,    and   William    of  Orange,   Charles's   own 
nephew,  was  made  Stadtholder  at  the  age  of  twenty-two. 
Under  his   leadership   the   Dutch  rallied  to   meet  the  in- 
vader in  the  heroic  spirit  which  they  had  shown  in  their 
contest  with   Spain   a    century    before.      They   refused   to 
accept  the  terms  offered  them.     In  their  desperation  they 
cut  the  dikes  and  laid  the  country  under  water.     Louis  was 
compelled  to  withdraw  his  army,  and  the  campaign  ended 
in  failure. 

Lack  of  money  now  forced  Charles  to  summon  Parlia- 
ment.    Fears  of  a  Catholic  reaction,  doubts  as  to  the  real 
policy  of  the  government,  were  agitating  the  country.     The 
session   was   marked   by  the    appearance  of  an    organized    The  Countrj 
opposition,  the  Country  party,  as  it  came  to  be  called.     Al-    ^^^  ^" 
though  sympathizing  with   the   Dissenters,  the   opposition 
held  that  the  first  need  was  to  put  a  check  upon  the  arbi- 
trary tendency  of  the  government,  and  opened  an  attack    source-Book, 
upon   the    Declaration   of    Indulgence.     A    resolution   was    pp-  276, 277. 
passed  declaring  "  that  penal  statutes  in  matters  ecclesias- 
tical cannot  be  suspended  but  by  consent  of  Parliament." 
All  supplies  were  refused  till  the  Declaration  was  recalled, 
and  Charles  was  forced  to  give  way.     Parliament  followed 
up  this  victory  by  passing  a  Test  Act  (1673)  requiring  all    Test  Act, 
holding   civil   or   military  office  to  receive  the   sacrament    ^^^' 
according  to  the   forms  of  the  Anglican  Church,  and  to 
subscribe  to  a  declaration  rejecting  the   doctrine  of  tran- 
substantiation.     The  effect  of  the  Test  Act  was  to  exclude 
aU  honest  Roman  Catholics  from  office.     The  resignation 


342  The  Restoration  and  the  Revolution 

of    hundreds    followed.       The    Duke    of    York    gave    up 
the  command  of  the   fleet,  and   Clifford  retired   from  the 
Treasury. 
Green,  The  break-up  of  the  Cabal  followed.     Clifford  withdrew 

pp.  642-646.     jj^jQ  private  life.     Ashley,  now  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  joined 
the  opposition,   to  be  followed  later  by  Buckingham  ;  Ar- 
lington attached  himself  to  the  court ;  Lauderdale  alone  con- 
tinued to  hold  office. 
Green,  Administration  of  the  Earl  of  Danby.  —  The  course  of 

pp.  646-649.  affairs  during  the  next  few  years  was  confused  and  un- 
BriTht  II  certain.  Charles,  in  disgust  at  his  failure  to  manage  Par- 
745-750.752.  liament,  gave  the  control  into  the  hands  of  the  Earl  of 
Danby,  who  was  thought  to  represent  the  dominant  senti- 
ment of  the  Commons.  The  domestic  aims  of  Danby  were 
those  of  Clarendon.  He  wished  to  strengthen  the  mon- 
archy and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land over  the  Catholics  and  Dissenters.  In  foreign  politics, 
however,  he  leaned  to  an  alliance  with  the  Dutch.  Both  in 
his  domestic  and  in  his  foreign  policy  Danby  had  the 
support  of  a  majority  in  Parliament  and  in  the  nation, 
but  he  and  the  king  were  in  accord  only  on  the  question 
of  the  royal  prerogative.  Another  element  in  the  situation 
was  the  Country  party,  which  under  Shaftesbury  con- 
tended vigorously  for  toleration  for  all  Dissenters  and  for 
war  with  France.  Danby  wished  to  break  off  the  alliance 
with  France,  but  Charles  was  bribed  to  maintain  it.  The 
Country  party  wanted  war,  but  did  not  dare  trust  the  king 
with  an  army.  Louis  kept  Charles  in  his  pay,  but  he 
doubted,  and  with  reason,  the  good  faith  of  his  pensioner, 
and  tried  to  hold  him  in  check  by  intriguing  with  the 
leaders  of  the  opposition. 

In  1674  a  separate  peace  was  made  with  Holland.  The 
Country  party,  not  content  with  breaking  off  the  alliance 
with  France,  desired  that  England  should  join  the  league 
against  Louis.  The  French  king  accordingly  bribed  Charles 
to  prorogue  Parliament  for  fifteen  months.  When  Parlia- 
ment reassembled  in  1677  it  renewed  the  demand  for  war. 


The  Popish  Plot 


343 


It  refused,  however,  to  appropriate  money  for  the  purpose, 
and  insisted  that  Charles  should  disband  the  army  which 
he  had  collected.  At  this  point  Louis  again  bought  the  pro- 
rogation of  I'arliament.  Before  the  subsidy  had  been  paid, 
however,  Danby  for  the  moment  gained  the  upper  hand  and 
succeeded  in  arranging  a  marriage  between  William,  Prince 
of  Orange,  and  Mary,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Duke  of 
York.  Louis  indignantly  refused  to  pay  the  promised  grant, 
and  Charles  at  once  retaliated  by  summoning  Parliament. 
Louis  now  adopted  new  tactics.  Convinced  of  the  folly  of 
relying  upon  Charles,  he  entered  into  an  intrigue  with  some 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Country  party,  with  the  hope  of  neutral- 
izing action  through  party  dissensions.  His  policy  was  so 
successful  that  Charles,  in  disgust,  turned  again  to  Louis, 
and  in  1678,  signed  a  private  treaty  with  the  French  king, 
agreeing  to  abandon  Holland  in  return  for  a  bribe  of  six 
million  livres.  The  general  peace  which  followed  rendered 
Louis  independent  of  England,  and  he  took  his  revenge  for 
Charles's  double  dealing,  by  making  public  the  whole  miser- 
able business.  Wounded  national  pride  called  for  vengeance. 
The  king  could  not  be  held  responsible,  and  the  wrath  of 
Parliament  fell  upon  Danby,  his  unwilling  agent.  To  save 
his  minister,  Charles  dissolved  Parliament,  which  had  now 
sat  for  seventeen  years.  The  new  Parliament  was,  however, 
even  more  determined  in  its  assaults  upon  Danby.  Ln- 
peached  by  the  House  of  Commons,  the  minister  pleaded 
the  king's  command  and  the  king's  pardon ;  the  plea  was 
set  aside,  and  the  principle  was  asserted  that  a  minister 
might  not  shield  himself  from  responsibility  behind  the 
order  of  the  sovereign.  If  the  king  could  do  no  wrong,  then 
some  one  must  be  made  responsible. 

The  Popish  Plot. —  The  attack  upon  Danby  would  per- 
haps have  been  less  vehement  had  not  the  disclosure  of  the 
king's  intrigues  come  just  at  a  time  when  the  country  was 
in  a  panic  over  the  discovery  of  the  so-called  Popish  Plot. 
It  was  asserted  that  the  Catholics  had  formed  a  conspiracy  to 
murder  the  king  and  to  place  the  Duke  of  York  on   the 


Marriage 
of  Princess: 
Mary  and 
William  of 
Orange, 
1677. 


Impeach- 
ment of 
Danby, 1678 


Green, 

pp.  649-652. 

Bright,  II, 
750-752. 


344 


TJie  Restoration  and  the  Revolution 


Source-Book, 
p.  283. 


r 


throne,  that  a  French  army  was  to  invade  the  country,  and 
that  Protestantism  was  to  be  absolutely  suppressed.  The 
story  rested  on  the  almost  unsupported  statements  of  Titus 
Oates,  a  man  of  degraded  character,  once  an  Anglican 
clergyman,  later  a  Jesuit  priest ;  but  the  Gunpowder  Plot  was 
fresh  in  popular  remembrance,  and  the  country  was  beside 
itself  with  fright.  Men  went  armed,  five  peers,  declared  to 
be  privy  to  the  plot,  were  thrown  into  the  Tower,  and  a 
number  of  Catholics  were  put  to  death.  The  Commons  re- 
solved "  that  this  house  is  of  opinion  that  there  hath  been 


Italia  JS^i 


^  ^M^^^^       if  '*  I 


g       -^S^^td-Jtr- 


South  View  ok  Hampton  Court 


Disabling 
Act,  1678. 


.  jreen, 

op  654-660. 
Uright,  II, 
752-754. 
756-758. 


and  still  is  a  damnable  and  hellish  plot,  carried  on  by  Papish 
recusants,  for  subverting  the  government  and  rooting  out  the 
Protestant  religion."  Urged  on  by  Shaftesbury,  who  un- 
scrupulously encouraged  belief  in  a  plot,  Parliament  passed 
a  Disabling  Act  (1678)  excluding  Catholic  peers  from  the 
House  of  Lords. 

Contest  over  the  Exclusion  Bill.  —  The  fears  and  excite- 
ment in  Parliament  increased  rapidly  and  resulted  in  the 
proposal  of  the  Exclusion  Bill,  excluding  the  Duke  of  York 
as  a  Catholic  from  the  succession.  To  save  his  brother, 
Charles  dissolved  Parliament,  although  it  had  sat  less  than 
three  months.     Before  its  dissolution,  however.  Parliament 


Contest  over  the  Exchision  Bill 


345 


succeeded  in  passing  the  great  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  by 
which  the  right  of  trial  or  of  liberation  was  finally  made 
secure.  Henceforth  no  man  was  to  be  detained  in  prison 
untried. 

The  elections  of  the  summer  of  1679  resulted  in  a  Par- 
liament even  more  bitterly  hostile  to  the  court  than  the 
preceding,  and  Charles  prorogued  the  new  assembly  seven 
times  before  he  dared  face  it.  In  the  meantime  Shaftesbury 
and  the  Country  party  spared  no  effort  to  keep  popular 
excitement    alive.      Their    avowed    purpose    was   to   press 


FROM  THE  River  Thames  in  the  Reic;n  of  Charles  II 


forward  the  Exclusion  Bill,  and  to  establish  the  succession 

of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  an  illegitimate  son  of  the  king.   Monmouth. 

Monmouth's  strength  lay    in    his    popular    manners    and  a 

reputation  for  loyalty  to  Protestantism  won  by  his  leniency 

in    suppressing  a  recent  outbieak  of  the    Covenanters    in 

Scotland. 

But  signs  of  a  reaction  were  becoming  apparent.  Popish 
Plot  trials  continued,  but  incredulity  as  to  the  existence  of 
a  conspiracy  was  spreading.  Petitions  from  the  Country 
party  urging  the  king  to  assemble  Parliament  were  met  by 
counter-addresses  from  the  supporters  of  the  divine  right  of 
hereditary  succession  expressing  abhorrence  of  these  petitions. 


346 


The  Restoration  and  the  Revolution 


Whigs  and 
Tories. 


Source-Book, 
pp.  277-282. 


Dryden, 

Absalom  and 
Achitophel. 


Blight,  II, 
758,  759- 


Two  sharply  opposed  parties  were  now  apparent,  known  at 
first  as  Petitioners  and  Abhorrers,  later  as  Whigs  and  Tories.^ 
In  October,  1680,  Parliament  was  at  last  called  together. 
The  Exclusion  P>ill  was  at  once  brought  in  and  passed  by 
the  Commons,  but  in  the  House  of  Lords  it  was  thrown 
out  through  the  efforts  of  the  Earl  of  Halifax.  A  dissolution 
followed.  Conscious  that  the  tide  was  turning  in  his  favor, 
Charles  called  a  new  Parliament  early  in  168 1.  He  offered 
to  agree  to  anything  short  of  exclusion,  the  duke  should  be 
banished,  a  regency  should  be  established  to  carry  on  the  gov- 
ernment in  James's  name,  the  regent  should  be  the  Prince 
of  Orange.  Blinded  by  passion,  Shaftesbury  with  his  party 
in  the  Commons  still  urged  forward  the  Exclusion  Bill.  But 
they  had  gone  too  far,  the  country  was  no  longer  with  them, 
and  they  were  at  length  forced  to  confess  themselves  beaten. 

In  the  one  great  struggle  with  Parliament  which  Charles 
risked  he  gained  a  complete  victory.  His  triumph  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  in  the  end  the  people  were  on  his  side. 
The  nation's  dislike  to  a  Catholic  ruler  was  overcome  by  its 
fear  of  civil  war  combined  with  its  loyalty  to  the  principle 
of  hereditary  right. 

Reaction. — In  the  reaction  that  followed  the  defeat  of  the 
Country  party,  Charles  was  strong  enough  to  take  vengeance 
upon  his  opponents.  A  few  of  the  followers  of  Shaftesbury 
were  put  to  death  on  testimony  no  better  than  that  accepted 
in  the  Popish  Plot  trials.  Shaftesbury  himself  was  charged 
with  high  treason,  but  the  grand  jury  of  Middlesex,  before 
which  the  charge  was  brought,  was  strongly  Whig,  and  the 
indictment  was  disregarded.  To  bring  London  and  the 
other  large  towns,  generally  Whig,  to  terms,  their  charters 
were  confiscated  on  charge  of  some  irregularides  and 
remodelled  in  the  Tory  interest. 

The  Rye  House  Plot.  —  Resdess  under  defeat,  the  Whigs 
took  to  plotting.     In  1683  some  of  the  more  unscrupulous 

1  Whig:  a  name  applied  to  the  Covenanters  of  the  west  of  Scotland, 
from  the  cry  of  "  whiggam,"  used  with  horses  by  the  peasants  of  that  region. 
Tory  :  a  name  given  to  brigands  in  Ireland. 


James  II  347 

members  of  the  party  formed  a  plan  to  murder  the  king  and  Green, 
his  brother  at  a  place  called  the  Rye  House.  The  con-  P-^^^- 
spiracy  was  discovered  in  time,  and  with  it  was  brought  to 
light  the  plan  of  some  of  the  Whigs  to  force  the  king  to 
summon  Parliament.  The  leaders  were  seized,  and  two  of 
them.  Lord  Russell  and  Algernon  Sydney,  were  tried  on  the 
charge  of  high  treason,  and  in  disregard  of  the  law  requir- 
ing two  witnesses,  were  condemned  to  death. 

Death  of  Charles  II.  —  The  revival  of  loyal  feeling  that   Bright,  ii, 
followed  the  defeat  of  the  Exclusion  Bill  had  not  vet  spent  7^" 

'  Green, 

itself  when  the  king  died,  declaring,  as  he  had  not  before  pp  661-664. 
dared  to  do,  his  adhesion  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
During  the  last  four  years  of  his  reign,  by  the  advice  of  the 
high  Tories,  he  refrained  from  calling  Parhament  and 
relied  upon  aid  from  France.  The  guiding  principle  of 
Charles's  policy  is  indicated  by  the  remark,  commonly  attrib- 
uted to  him,  that  whatever  else  might  happen  he  would  not 
go  again  upon  his  travels.  He  had  the  ability  to  see  the 
limit  beyond  which  resistance  was  unsafe,  and  there  was 
never  fear  that  he  would  press  a  matter  to  the  point  of  en- 
dangering his  crown.  On  the  whole  his  reign  was  marked 
by  real  constitutional  progress.  Charles  made  his  minis- 
ters responsible  to  himself,  but  he  was  not  able  to  prevent 
their  being  called  to  account  by  Parliament.  Moreover,  the 
establishment  of  political  parties  was  a  long  stride  toward 
parliamentary  rule. 

James  II  (1685-1689).  —  The  Stuart  restoration  coin-  Bright,  II, 
cided  with  the  development  in  the  English  people  of  in-  763- 
tense  feeling  on  certain  subjects.  An  unreasoning  devo- 
tion to  the  king  and  the  Church  was  matched  by  an  equally 
unreasoning  fear  and  detestation  of  Puritans  and  Roman 
Catholics.  Should  these  sentiments  ever  come  into  conflict, 
it  was  a  question  which  would  gain  the  mastery.  In  the 
reign  of  James  U  the  question  was  answered.  As  a  man 
James  was  more  respectable  than  his  brother,  as  a  king  he  was 
more  dangerous.  In  many  ways  he  resembled  his  father. 
He  had  the  same  lack  of  tact  and  pliabihty,  coupled  with  even 


348  The  Restoration  and  the  Rcvobition 

less  ability.  James's  aims  were  like  those  of  Charles  II,  to 
make  himself  independent  of  Parliament  and  to  restore  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  his  policy  was  different.  De- 
pendence on  France  was  odious  to  him.  If  possible  he 
would  achieve  his  ends  in  some  less  humiliating  way.  If 
he  could  obtain  from  Parliament  what  he  wanted,  freedom 
to  carry  out  his  domestic  policy  and  plenty  of  money,  he 
would  throw  England  into  the  scale  against  France.  Only 
as  a  last  resort  would  he  become  a  pensioner  of  Louis. 

The  Tory  Parliament. — James  met  his  first  Parliament  on 
the  19th  of  May,  16S5.  The  Tories  were  in  an  immense 
majority.  This  was  due  in  part  to  the  remodelled  munici- 
palities (p.  346),  but  still  more  to  the  strength  of  the  royal 
feeling  throughout  the  country.  A  revenue  even  larger 
than  that  enjoyed  by  the  late  king  was  granted  James  for 
life. 

Events  that  followed  quickly  upon  the  opening  of  the  ses- 
sion tended  to  strengthen  the  king  with  Parliament  and  with 
the  nation.     During  the  preceding  reign  a  group  of  Scotch 
Bright,  II,       and    English  exiles  had  gathered  in  Holland.      They  now 
764-768.  planned  a  simultaneous  invasion  of  Scotland  and  England 

pp.  664-666.  under  the  leadership  of  the  Earl  of  Argyle  and  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth.  It  was  thought  that  the  Presbyterian  interest 
and  Argyle's  own  clansmen  would   join   him   in  attacking 

Monmouth  s    jg^^^gg'g  government.     Monmouth's  reliance  was  in  the  Dis- 

rebellion,         -'  ° 

1685.  senters  and  the  extreme  Protestant  party.      Both   expedi- 

tions ended  in  failure.  Argyle  had  already  met  his  over- 
throw in  the  Highlands  when  Monmouth  landed  in  the  west 
of  England.  The  duke  was  well  received  by  the  common 
people,  but  he  found  little  support  among  substantial  men, 
and  on  Sedgemoor  his  forces  were  completely  defeated 
by  the  royal  army.  Monmouth  was  taken  prisoner  and 
put  to  death.  Jeffreys,  one  of  the  judges  noted  for  his 
ferocity,  was  sent  to  the  western  counties  to  take  revenge 
upon  the  duke's  unhappy  followers.  His  cruel  circuit  has 
received  the  name  of  the  Bloody  Assizes,  but  the  king 
rewarded  his  work  with  the  chancellorship. 


Despotism  of  James 


349 


Despotism  of  James.  —  The  ease  with  which  Argyle  and  Bright.  II, 
Monmouth  were  crushed  gave  James  confidence.  He  felt  '^^^^'^'^' 
that  he  might  proceed  openly  with  his  plans.  Accordingly 
he  increased  his  army  and  appointed  Roman  Catholics  to 
commands,  although  they  could  not  take  the  oath.  When 
Parliament  reassembled  in  November  he  urged  forward  the 
repeal  of  the  Test  Act,  but  a  strong  opposition  became 
manifest  in  both  Houses,  and  James  prorogued  Parliament. 

Undeterred  by  his  failure  to  obtain  the  support  of  the  Tory  Green, 
and  High  Church  party,  James  went  boldly  on  with  his  plans  PP-  666-671. 
for  a  Roman  Catholic  restoration.  He  made  free  use  of  the 
much-disputed  right  of  dispensing  with  the  execution  of  the 
laws  in  individual  cases.  In  order  to  get  a  legal  decision 
in  his  favor,  he  caused  a  suit  to  be  brought  against  Sir 
Edmund  Hales,  a  Catholic  officer,  who  had  refused  to  take 
the  test.  Hales  produced  a  royal  dispensation,  and  the 
court,  which  had  been  carefully  packed,  decided  in  sup- 
port of  the  king's  claim. 

Strengthened  by  this  decision,  James  proceeded  to  ap- 
point Catholics  to  high  church  and  university  offices.  To 
enforce  his  will  upon  the  clergy,  he  established  the  Ecclesi- 
astical Commission  Court,  with  Jeffreys  at  its  head.  A  small 
riot  in  London  was  made  the  excuse  for  establishing  a  per- 
manent encampment  of  troops  on  Hounslow  Heath.  Mean- 
time a  struggle  that  had  been  going  on  among  the  king's 
supporters  ended  in  the  triumph  of  the  Earl  of  Sunderland 
and  the  extreme  Catholics.  The  Earl  of  Rochester,  who 
represented  the  party  of  the  Protestants  and  moderate 
Catholics,  was  dismissed  from  office  because  he  would  not 
change  his  belief.  At  the  same  time,  Tyrconnel,  leader  of 
the  Irish  Catholics,  was  made  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland, 
in  place  of  Clarendon,  Rochester's  brother. 

Urged  on  by  his  new  advisers,  James  determined  on  more   General 
sweeping  measures.     On  the  4th  of  April,  1687,  he  issued   Declaration 
a  general  Declaration  of  Indulgence  suspending  all  penal   indulgence, 
laws  and  religious  tests.      Self-interest,  he  thought,  would    1687. 
insure  the  support  of  the  Dissenters  to  the  measure,  but  in 


350 


TJic  Restoration  and  the  Revolution 


Bright,  II, 

774-777- 

Attack  on 
the  Univer- 
sities. 


this  he  was  mistaken.  The  larger  part  of  the  dissenting 
body  expressed  strong  disapproval  of  the  action.  The 
attack  upon  the  universities  became  more  violent.  At 
Cambridge  the  vice-chancellor  was  dismissed  from  office  for 
refusing  to  give  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  to  a  Bene- 
dictine monk  who  had  refused  to  take  the  test.  At  Oxford 
the  Fellows  of  Magdalen  were  directed  to  elect  to  the 
vacant  headship  of  the  college  a  Catholic  nominee  of  the 


St.  John's  Cui.lki.i:,  Cami;kii.h_;e 
From  an  old  print 


crown.     On  their  refusal  to  do  this,  they  were  turned  out 
of  doors  and  their  places  filled  with  Roman  Catholics. 

Blind  to  the  growing  discontent,  James  made  one  more 
attempt  to  procure  from  Parliament  the  repeal  of  the  Test 
Act.  The  existing  House  was  dissolved,  and  no  pains  were 
spared  to  pack  the  new  one.  The  corporations  were  again 
remodelled  so  as  to  secure  the  return  of  Catholics  and  Dis- 
senters. The  lords-lieutenant  of  the  counties  were  asked 
to  aid  the  king  in  securing  the  election  of  candidates  who 


Negotiations  with   Williani  of  Ormtge         351 

would  vote  for  repeal.  It  soon  became  plain  that  neither 
towns  nor  counties  could  be  trusted  to  do  the  king's 
bidding,  and  the  design  of  convening  Parliament  was 
abandoned. 

The  Trial  of  the  Seven  Bishops. — James  seemed  deter-   Bright,  1 1, 
mined  to  alienate  all  his  supjjurters.     In  April,   1688,  he  777-779- 
issued  a  second  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  which  he  or-    m^%\  5  2 
dered  to  be  read  in    all   the   churches.     The   clergy  had 
preached   the  doctrine  of  non-resistance  with  great  vigor, 
but  now  they  hesitated  to  obey.     When  the  day  appointed 
for  the  reading  arrived,  the  churches  were  thronged.    Most 
of  the  country  clergy  refused  to  obey  the  king's  order ;  only 
four  of  the  London  clergy  attempted  to  read  the  Declara- 
tion,  and   at  the   first  words  their  congregations  left  the 
church. 

A  few  days  before  the  appointed  Sunday  seven  bishops,  Source-Book^ 
including  the  primate,  presented  a  respectful  petition  to  the  pp-  284-288. 
king,  praying  that  they  might  be  freed  from  the  necessity 
of  breaking  the  law  by  reading  an  illegal  declaration.  James 
called  the  petition  "  a  standard  of  rebellion,"  and  caused  the 
bishops  to  be  brought  before  the  King's  Bench  on  the  charge 
of  publishing  a  seditious  libel.  The  excitement  was  tremen- 
dous. The  streets  outside  Westminster  Hall,  where  the  trial 
was  held,  were  filled  with  anxious  crowds.  James  felt  sure 
of  both  judges  and  jury,  but  to  his  chagrin  a  verdict  of 
not  guilty  was  brought  in.  The  result  was  received  with 
great  rejoicing ;  even  the  soldiers  on  Hounslow  Heath 
shouted  with  the  rest. 

Negotiations  with  William  of  Orange.  —  In  spite  of  the 
victory  gained  in  the  acquittal  of  the  bishops,  matters  had 
not  really  taken  a  turn  for  the  better.  The  patience  which 
the  nation  had  shown  was  chiefly  due  to  its  hope  of  seeing 
an  end  of  its  troubles,  for  James's  only  children  were  daugh- 
ters and  loyal  to  the  Protestant  faith.  But  while  the  fate 
of  the  bishops  was  still  undecided,  the  queen  gave  birth  to  Birth  of  a 
a  son,  and  at  once  the  aspect  of  affairs  changed.  So  oppor-  P"°<^^' 
tune  for  James's  plans  was  the  birth  of  the  young  prince,  that 


352 


The  Restoration  and  the  Revolutioji 


the  child  was  poi)ularly,  although  falsely,  held  to  be  suppo- 
sititious. But,  whatever  the  feeling  among  the  people,  he 
was  presented  to  the  country  as  the  heir  to  the  throne,  and 
he  was  sure  to  be  brought  up  a  Catholic.  The  day  of  the 
acquittal  of  the  bishops,  a  letter,  signed  by  seven  prominent 
Whigs  and  Tories,  was  sent  to  William  of  Orange,  husband 


Green, 
pp.  672-680. 
Bright,  II, 
779-782. 


The  Cittie  of  Limerick 

O'Grady,  Pacata  Hibertiia,  or  A  History  of  the  Wars  in  Ireland 

of  Princess  Mary,  asking  him   to  come   to    the  rescue   of 
English  liberty. 

William  of  Orange  was  the  leading  Protestant  statesman 
of  Europe.  He  had  thrown  himself  heart  and  soul  into 
the  struggle  against  France,  and  was  strongly  desirous  of 
securing  the  cooperation  of  England.  The  opportunity  was 
tempting,  but  the  difficulties  in  the  way  were  great ;  English 
national  feeling,  Dutch  jealousy,  the  opposition  of  his  Cath- 
olic allies  on  the  Continent,  were  all  to  be  met.  The  un- 
bridled ambition  of  Louis  and  the  boundless  stupidity  of 


THE  UINITED  NETHERLANDS 


THE  SPANISH  NETHERXANDS 

SCALE  OF  ENGLISH  MILES 
10      20       30 


eoaMAT  iCO.,  ENSR'S,  N.) 


The  Revolution  of  1688  353 

James  combined  to  smooth  his  way.  15y  attacking  the  trade 
of  Holland  Louis  insured  to  William  the  suppoit  of  the 
Dutch.  By  quarrelling  with  the  Pope  he  connected  for  the 
moment  the  interests  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  with 
William's  success.  In  England  James  crowned  a  long  series 
of  blunders  and  alienated  the  army  by  bringing  over  Irish 
Catholic  troops.  At  last  the  king  had  succeeded  in  driving 
all  elements  of  the  nation  into  opposition.  Tories  and 
Whigs,  the  Church,  the  Dissenters,  the  universities,  country 
and  town,  all  alike  now  understood  that  political  freedom, 
the  Protestant  faith,  the  national  honor,  were  in  danger  so 
long  as  James  was  on  the  throne. 

The  Revolution  of  1688.  —  William  no  longer  hesitated.    Bright,  II. 
Before  setting  sail  he  issued  a  manifesto  which  summed  up  783-709- 

.        .  ,        J    Green, 

James's  unconstitutional  acts  and  stated  that,  as  the  husband   pp  680-68^ 
of  Princess  Mary,  he  was  coming  to  England  with  an  armed 
force    to   secure    a    free   and   legal    Parliament,    by    whose 
decision  he  would  abide. 

James  had  obstinately  closed  his  eyes  to  what  was  passing. 
Forced  at  length  to  see  his  danger,  he  made  concessions  right 
and  left.  But  it  was  loo  late.  On  the  5th  of  November 
William  landed  at  Torbay  and  proceeded  slowly  toward 
London.  He  was  joined  by  one  after  another  of  the  leading  Scurce-Book^ 
statesmen  and  generals.  Even  the  Princess  Anne  threw  in  PP-  2B8-292. 
her  lot  with  the  rebels.  James  found  himself  almost  alone, 
and  with  the  fate  of  his  father  before  his  eyes  he  fled  in  dis- 
guise to  France,  where  he  was  most  respectfully  received 
by  Louis. 

It  was  necessary  to  provide  without  delay  for  the  settle- 
ment of  the  government,  and  election  writs  were  issued  in 
WiUiam's  name.  When  the  convention  came  together,  the 
Commons  passed  a  resolution  declaring  that  "  King  James 
II,  having  endeavoured  to  subvert  the  Constitution  of 
the  kingdom  by  breaking  the  original  contract  between 
King  and  people,  and,  by  the  advice  of  Jesuits  and  other 
wicked  people,  having  violated  the  fundamental  laws,  and 
having  withdrawn  himself  out  of  the  kingdom,  had  abdicated 


354  The  Restoration  and  the  Revolution 

.  the  Government,  and  that  the  throne  had  thereby  become 

vacant."     After  some  debate  the  Lords  accepted  the  terms 

Declaration     of  the  Commons'  resokition.     A  Declaration  of  Right  was 

of  Right,        drawn  up,  reciting  the  misgovernment  of  James,  and  assert- 

see  p.  3  2.       .^^  ^j^^  rights  and  Hl)erties  of  the  EngUsh  people.     The  two 

Houses  then  joined  in  offering  the  crown  to  William  and 

Mary  as  joint  sovereigns,  the  actual  administration  of  the 

government,  however,  to  rest  with  William. 

Brigiit,  II.  England  at  the  Close  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  —  Eng- 

790-804.  land's  real  religious  reformation  and  her  greatest  political 

Macauiay,       revolution  came  within  a  space  of  less  than  one  hundred 

Hist,  of  years.     For  almost  a  century  the  national  energies  had  been 

S'^llT  '         concentrated  in  the  two  channels  of  politics  and  religion. 

Literature  was   dominated   by   these  interests.     In  Bacon, 

Hobbes,  Filmer,  Locke,  in  Milton  and  Bunyan,  the  national 

earnestness  found  full  expression,     Milton,  the  secretary  of 

Cromwell,  the  great  Puritan  poet  serving  the  great  Puritan 

statesman,  typifies  the  close  connection  between  the  world 

of  action  and  the  world  of  letters. 

Social  and  industrial  interests  were  forced  into  the  back- 
ground by  the  strenuous  political  and  religious  activity. 
During  the  civil  wars,  the  half-feudal  conditions  that  con- 
trolled class  relations  under  the  early  Stuarts  disappeared, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  century,  society  had  assumed  a 
modern  character.  The  mediaeval  baron  had  given  place 
to  the  modern  nobleman.  The  country  gentry  and  the 
Traill,  IV,  rural  clergy,  united  by  many  interests,  formed  the  influen- 
472-477.  tij^l  class.     The  small  freeholders  were  slowly  losing  ground, 

but  were  still  an  important  element  in  the  life  of  the 
country.  Below  them,  unrepresented  and  ignored,  were 
the  farmers,  laborers,  and  artisans.  A  counterpoise  to  the 
power  of  the  landed  interest  was  the  commercial  class  rap- 
idly growing  in  wealth  and  political  importance.  One  of 
the  most  important  social  and  political  features  of  the  time 
was  the  presence  of  the  large  body  of  Dissenters,  active  and 
intelligent,  and  forced  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  nation  by 
the  intolerant  attitude  of  the  Church.     London  had  become 


Commercial  Rivalry  ivith  Holland  355 

to  a  degree  before  unknown  the  centre  of  political  and 
intellectual  interests.  Men  of  prominence  in  all  pursuits 
flocked  thither,  congregating  at  the  coffee-houses/  which 
answered  the  purpose  of  the  clubs  of  to-day. 

The  industrial  history  of  the  seventeenth  century  offers 
little  that  is  noteworthy.  The  disorders  of  the  Civil  War 
caused  a  rise  in  prices  which  was  made  good  only  in  part  by 
the  rise  in  wages.  On  the  whole,  however,  there  was  but 
little  economic  disturbance.  Agriculture  showed  some  im- 
provement under  the  early  Stuarts,  due  to  the  impetus  Traill,  I v„ 
given  by  the  Tudors.  The  draining  of  the  fens  was  the 
great  achievement  of  the  time."  During  the  first  part  of  the 
century  there  was  some  progress  in  manufacturing.  The 
woollen  industry  prospered.  The  iron  mines  of  Sussex  were 
worked  to  a  considerable  extent,  but  smelting  was  hampered 
by  the  increasing  scarcity  of  wood,  and  as  yet  the  use  of  pit 
coal  as  fuel  was  not  generally  understood.  There  was  but 
little  development  in  domestic  trade,  owing  mainly  to  the 
itv^  and  bad  roads.  Foreign  trade  was  chiefly  in  the  hands 
of  the  Londoners.  In  accordance  with  the  prevailing  eco- 
nomic theories  there  was  much  regulation  of  trade,  and 
home  industries  and  national  commerce  were  fostered  by 
efforts  to  crush  out  foreign  or  colonial  rivalry. 

Commercial  Rivalry  with  Holland.  —  Brief  though  it  was, 
the  rule  of  Cromwell  marks  a  turning-point  in  English 
policy.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  the  government  concerned 
itself  with  building  up  a  commercial  and  colonial  empire. 
Henceforth  England's  strength  was  on  the  sea,  and  her  wars 
were  usually  naval.  The  rivals  of  England  in  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century  were  Spain  and  Holland.  Spain  was  still 
the  first  colonial  power  of  the  world,  but  decay  had  set  in  and 
Spanish  greatness  was  waning.  Holland,  on  the  contrary, 
was  at  the  height  of  her  power,  doing  the  carrying  trade  of 
the  world,  and  building  up  her  empire  at  the  expense  of 

1  Coffee  was  introduced  into  England  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 

2  The  great  fens  extending  into  six  of  the  eastern  counties  were  drained 
and  reclaimed  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 


356 


TJw  Restoration  aiul  the  Rcvolittioii 


Jamaica, 

1655. 


Peace  of 
Breda,  1667. 


Spain  and  Portugal.  England,  under  Cromwell,  made  suc- 
cessful war  upon  both  the  Spanish  and  the  Dutch.  The 
Spanish  settlements  were  attacked,  and,  although  an  attempt 
to  seize  San  Domingo  failed,  Jamaica  passed  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  English.  The  basis  of  Holland's  power,  her 
commercial  supremacy,  received  a  twofold  blow  in  the 
achievements  of  the  English  navy  and  in  the  Navigation 
Acts  of  the  Long  Parliament. 

The  example  of  the  Commonwealth  was  followed  under 
Charles  II.  Trade  rivalry  with  Holland  continued,  and  the 
Navigation  Laws  were  renewed  (1660).  In  1665  war  broke 
out.  On  the  sea  the  two  powers  were  still  well  matched, 
and  England  met  with  alternate  success  and  defeat.  By  the 
peace  of  Breda  which  closed  the  war  (1667),  England  gave 
up  her  claim  to  Pularoon,  thus  losing  her  hold  upon  the 
Spice  Islands  of  the  East ;  but  in  return  she  was  secured 
in  her  possession  of  St.  Helena,  off  the  coast  of  Africa,  valu- 
able as  a  calling  station,  and  what  was  of  greater  importance, 
she  fell  heir  to  the  Dutch  colonies  in  America.  After  the 
founding  of  settlements  in  the  Carolinas,  1663,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, 1682,  the  English  possessions  stretched  in  an  un- 
broken line  for  nearly  a  thousand  miles  along  the  Atlantic 
coast  of  North  America.  No  other  power  could  boast  so 
extensive  a  group  of  colonies  peopled  by  men  of  the  home 
race. 

Although,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
Dover  (1670),  the  war  with  Holland  was  renewed,  the  feel- 
ing was  becoming  general  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  make  war 
on  the  Dutch.  Holland  was  a  waning,  England  a  growing 
power.  England  ceased  to  dread  the  rivalry  of  the  Dutch, 
Holland  needed  the  aid  of  the  English.  The  duel  between 
the  two  northern  sea-powers  may  be  said  to  end  with  the 
peace  of  1674.  Henceforth  the  two  nations  drew  together, 
united  by  a  common  fear  of  the  French. 

The  Duel  between  England  and  France.  —  The  close  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  left  France  dominant  on  the  Continent. 
Under  Louis  XIV  France  became  the  most  powerful  country 


The  Duel  bctiveen  Eii^land  and  France       357 

in  Europe.  Her  population  was  almost  three  times  that 
of  England.  Her  army  rose  steadily  from  one  hundred 
thousand  in  1650  to  half  a  million  at  the  beginning  of  the 
next  century,  and  her  navy  could  hold  its  own  against  the 
English  or  the  Dutch.  By  the  centralization  of  the  govern- 
ment under  Richelieu,  all  these  resources  were  placed  at 
the  absolute  disposal  of  the  king. 

Great  as  were  the  resources  of  Louis  XIV,  they  were  Aims  of 
outstripped  by  his  ambition.  From  the  beginning  of  his  ^'""'^  ^'^• 
rule  in  1660  till  his  final  defeat  in  1713,  he  was  ceaselessly 
planning  to  extend  his  power.  Schemes  of  continental 
aggrandizement  were  accompanied  by  attempts  to  develop 
the  French  colonial  empire.  The  direction  which  Louis 
gave  to  the  policy  of  France  outlived  him,  and  for  half  a 
century  after  the  death  of  the  Great  Monarch  the  French 
were  still  struggling  to  attain  the  double  goal  of  continental 
supremacy  and  colonial  expansion. 


358  The  Restoration  and  the  Revolution 

Important  Events 

Charles  II,  1660-1685. 

The  Cavalier  Parliament,  1661-1679. 

Act  of  Uniformity.  1662. 

Conquest  of  New  Netherlands,  1664. 

War  with  Holland,  1 665-1 667. 

Fall  of  Clarendon,  1667. 

Treaty  of  Dover,  1670. 

Declaration  of  Indulgence,  1672. 

Test  Act,  1673. 

The  Popish  Plot,  1678. 

Habeas  Corpus  Act,  1679. 

Contest  over  the  Exclusion  Bill,  1 679-1 681. 

Founding  of  Pennsylvania,  1682. 

James  II,  1685-1689. 

Sedgemoor,  1685. 

The  judges  declare  for  the  king's  dispensing  power,  1686. 

Second  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  1688. 

Birth  of  the  son  of  James  II,  1688. 

Acquittal  of  the  seven  bishops,  1688. 

Landing  of  William  of  Orange,  1688. 

The  crown  accepted  by  William  and  Mary,  1689. 


Chief  Contemporaries  359 


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CHAPTER  XII 

PARTIES  AND    PARTY   GOVERNMENT 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 
Adams  and  Stephens,   Hill,   Henderson,  Figgis,  as  before. 

Special  Authorities 

Hallam,   Constitutional  History  of  England. 

May,    Cotistitutiojial  History  of  England. 

Macaulay,  History  of  England. 

Lecky,  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth   Century. 

Leadam,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  IX. 

Traill,    William  III. 

Morley,   Walpole. 

Imaginative  Literature 

Thackeray,  Esmond. 
Scott,    IVaverley. 

Bright,  III,  Results  of  the  Revolution  of  1688.  —  The  Revolution  of 

806,  807.  j5gg  marks  the  overthrow  of  the  Stuart  theory  of  the  divine 

right  of  kings,  and  the  triumph  of  the  Whig  principle  that 
the  king  rules  by  the  will  of  the  people.  In  the  place  of  an 
absolute  sovereign  was  established  a  supreme  Parliament, 
the  representative  of  the  nation  ;  and  government  by  pre- 
rogative gave  way  to  the  rule  of  law.  The  work  was  well 
done';  arbitrary  taxation  and  arbitrary  legislation  could 
never  again  be  attempted.  Little,  in  fact,  was  left  for  the 
next  century  to  accomplish  except  to  adjust  the  machinery 
of  government  to  the  new  controlling  principles.  Thor- 
ough as  was  the  Revolution,  it  was,  nevertheless,  essentially 

-,60 


Parties  and  the  Rcvoliitiflu 


361 


conservative  and  practical.  The  extravagances  of  the  Re- 
beUion  had  made  men  cautious.  All  unnecessary  change 
was  deprecated.  Nothing  was  attacked  that  could  safely 
be  retained,  and  there  was  no  theorizing.  In  sharp  con- 
trast with  the  earlier  movement  was  the  peaceful  character 
of  this  revolution.  Without  bloodshed,  with  but  little  excite- 
ment, a  king  was  deposed,  and  another  ruler  set  in  his  place, 
and  the  whole  conception  of  the  government  changed. 

Constitutional  Work  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. — The 
Revolution  was  accomplished  in  the  space  of  a  {q\s  weeks. 
To  carry  into  effect  what  had  been  gained  was  the  work  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  natural  consequence  of  the 
supremacy  of  Parliament  was  parliamentary  control  of  the 
executive,  the  transformation  of  the  ministers  of  the  king 
into  national  ministers,  responsible  to  the  people,  not  to  the 
sovereign,  and  all-powerful  if  secure  of  popular  support. 
This  was  not  at  first  realized.  Still  less  was  the  means  of 
bringing  the  will  of  the  people  to  bear  upon  the  government 
understood.  More  than  a  century  of  blind,  stumbling  ex- 
periment was  necessary  to  work  out  and  establish  in  com- 
pleteness Cabinet  government ;  that  is,  government  by  a  Cabinet 
council  of  ministers  holding  the  same  political  opinions,  act- 
ing as  a  unit,  in  harmony  with  the  dominant  party  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  standing  or  falling,  not  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  king,  but  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  the  nation  as 
expressed  through  its  representatives. 

Parties  and  the  Revolution. — Although  James  11  was 
overthrown  by  a  combination  of  Whigs  and  Tories,  the  Rev- 
olution was  essentially  a  Whig  movement.  The  cooperation 
of  the  Tories  was  accidental  and  temporary.  Out  of  loyalty 
to  one  principle  they  did  violence  to  another.  They  re- 
sisted the  king  to  save  the  Anglican  Church,  but  that  did 
not  mean  that  they  had  abandoned  the  doctrine  of  inde- 
feasible hereditary  right.  For  a  generation  to  come  the 
Tory  party  remained  Jacobite,  that  is  to  say  Stuart,  in  sym- 
pathy. Just  so  long  as  there  was  a  Catholic  pretender  in 
the  background  the  contradiction  between  the  Tory  prin- 


govern- 
ment. 


Jacobitism. 


3       Longitude        2 


1      Greenwich        0 


eoRHAy  i  CO.,  ensd's,  n.Tj 


William  HI  363 

ciples  would  divide  and  weaken  the  party.  The  position  of 
the  Whigs,  on  the  other  hand,  was  simple.  In  their  hands, 
resistance  to  James  had  been  made  to  mean  constitutional 
liberty  and  religious  toleration,  the  cardinal  points  of  the 
Whig  doctrine.  Accordingly  their  task  was  simply  the 
maintenance  of  the  Revolution  settlement. 

In  fighting  strength  the  two  parties  were  not  unequal. 
On  the  side  of  the  Tories  were  the  country  gentry  and  the 
Church,  never  since  the  Reformation  so  powerful  as  now. 
The  strength  of  the  Whigs  lay  in  the  great  nobles,  the  Dis- 
senters, and  the  commercial  classes.  The  Tories  were 
more  numerous,  but  the  Whigs  were  strong  through  good 
leadership,  fine  organization,  and  the  high  inteUigence  of 
the  mass  of  the  party. 

William  III  (1689-1702)  and  the  Revolution  Settlement.  Bright,  iii, 
—  The  establishment  of  the  new  government  was  attended  807,811. 
with  many  difficulties.  The  unanimity  of  the  nation  in  pp.  688-691. 
support  of  the  Revolution  soon  came  to  an  end.  James's 
repeated  assaults  upon  the  Church  had  led  the  clergy  to 
disregard,  for  a  moment,  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience, 
which,  for  a  generation,  they  had  vigorously  preached  ;  but 
the  overthrow  of  the  house  of  Stuart  was  quickly  followed 
by  a  reaction  in  its  favor  among  churchmen.  The  require- 
ment that  all  of  the  clergy  should  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
forced  the  growing  disaffection  to  the  Revolution  into  open 
hostility.  Between  three  hundred  and  four  hundred  of  the 
clergy,  including  the  primate  and  six  of  the  bishops,  refused 
to  take  the  oath  and  were  deprived  of  their  preferments. 
These  Nonjurors,  as  they  were  called,  were  now  to  be 
counted  as  enemies  to  the  new  order. 

To  overturn  the  despotism  of  James,  Whigs  and  Tories  Bright,  ill, 
had  joined  hands,  but  success  at  once  brought  out  the  old  8°8~8^°- 
differences  of  opinion.  Gratitude  and  self-interest  bound 
William  to  the  Whigs,  to  whose  eff'orts  he  chiefly  owed  his 
crown,  but  he  was  unwilling  to  be  a  mere  party  leader. 
Moreover,  although  resolved  to  rule  constitutionally,  he 
had  no  mind  to  become  simply  a  figure-head,  and  he  naturally 


364  Parties  and  Party  Govcrmncnt 

inclined  to  tlic  Tory  party  with  its  liigher  views  of  the  royal 
prerogative.  He  attemjited,  therefore,  to  rule  by  the  support 
of  both  parties,  and  included  in  his  ministry  both  Whigs  and 
Tories.  The  impracticability  of  this  method  was  not  at  first 
realized,  but  the  friction  it  caused  soon  became  apparent. 

The  Bill  of  Parliament  proceeded  to  pass  some  important  measures. 

Rights,  rpj^g  Declaration  of  Rights  was  reissued  as  the  Bill  of  Rights. 

Old  South  .  ^     ,  r     1        ^1  1        1        rA-  . 

Leaflets,  In  spitc  of  the  protest  of  the  Church,  the  Dissenters  were 

No.  19.  rewarded  for  their  support  of  the  Revolution  with  the  Tol- 

Toieration       eration  Act,    which  gave  liberty   of  worship  to  all  except 

Act,  1689.        Unitarians  and  Roman   Catholics.     It  was  not  a  generous 

measure  ;  toleration,  not  equality,  was  granted,  and  much  of 

the  penal  legislation  of  Charles  II  remained  in  force.     In 

this  and  the  following  Parliament  the  public  revenue  was 

settled.     Certain  taxes  were  granted  to  the  king  for  life  for 

the  support  of  the  crown,'  others  for  the  maintenance  of 

the  government  were  granted  for  a  limited  time  only.     The 

separation  of  the  grants  for  the  royal  expenditure  from  the 

appropriations  for  carrying  on  the  government  was  of  great 

constitutional  importance. 

Bright,  II,  Ireland  and  the  Revolution.  —  When  the  Revolution  broke 

772-774;  III,   Q^t^  Ireland,  as  was  natural,  espoused  the  cause  of  James. 

826-830!  The  restoration  of  Charles  II  had    brought  some  relief  to 

Green,  the  Irish  Catholics.     It  is   true  that  the  Act  of  Settlement 

pp.  664, 665,     (i65i)  had  confirmed  most  of  the  land  grants  made  under 
669-671.  ^         ^  ... 

Cromwell.  As  a  result,  the  Protestants  were  left  m  posses- 
sion of  almost  three-fourths  of  the  good  lands  in  Ireland, 
while  before  1641  about  two-thirds  of  such  lands  were  still  in 
the  hands  of  the  Catholics.  Nevertheless,  the  years  that  fol- 
lowed the  return  of  the  Stuarts  were,  on  the  whole,  prosper- 
ous. There  was  religious  toleration,  and  the  measures  of 
the  government  were  mild.  During  his  short  reign,  James 
had  done  much  to  restore  the  ascendency  of  the  Catholics. 
Tyrconnel,  a  Romanist,  was  at  the  head  of  the  government, 
the  municipal  charters  were  remodelled  in  the  interest  of 
the  same  party,  and  an  Irish  Catholic  army  was  organized. 

1  This  grant  formed  the  origin  of  the  Civil  List. 


Ireland  and  tlic  Revolution 


365 


When  William  landed  in  England,  the  Irish  at  once  rose 
in  support  of  James.  Many  of  the  English  fled  from  the 
country,  those  remaining  threw  themselves  into  the  few 
strong  places  like  Londonderry  and  Enniskillen.  Tyrconnel 
and  his  army  swept  over  the  land,  destroying  the  property 
of  the  Protestants.  Except  for  Londonderry  and  Ennis- 
killen, now  closely  invested,  all  Ireland  was  in  revolt  against 
the  English  government.  James  took  courage.  Accom- 
panied by  a  few  French  officers  he  crossed  over  from 
France,  and  a  Parliament  was  summoned  in  Dublin,  which, 
as  was  to  be  expected,  contained  few  but  Catholics.  It  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  repeal  the  Act  of  Settlement  and  to  pass 
an  Act  of  Attainder  including  between  two  thousand  and 
three  thousand  of  the  leading  Englishmen  in  the  country. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  established  perfect  religious  liberty. 

At  first  William  III  showed  little  energy  in  attempt- 
ing to  assert  his  authority  in  Ireland.  Londonderry  and 
Enniskillen  held  out,  but  in  Londonderry  the  popula- 
tion was  reduced  to  the  last  straits.  Finally  in  July,  1689,  an 
English  fleet  succeeded  in  forcing  its  way  up  the  river  Foyle 
and  Londonderry  was  saved,  after  a  siege  of  one  hundred 
and  five  days.  Early  in  1690  the  king,  glad  to  turn  his 
back  on  the  faction  struggles  of  the  Whigs  and  Tories, 
crossed  to  Ireland.  In  July  he  fought  the  battle  of  the 
Boyne.  The  Irish  suffered  overwhelming  defeat,  and  James, 
giving  up  his  cause  for  lost,  fled  to  France.  For  a  year 
longer  the  Irish  kept  up  the  struggle,  but  in  October,  1691, 
Limerick  was  forced  to  surrender,  and  this  brought  the 
war  to  an  end.  By  the  treaty  of  Limerick,  the  Catholics 
were  promised  such  hberties  as  they  had  enjoyed  under 
Charles  II,  and  amnesty  was  guaranteed  for  all  who  would 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  To  the  shame  of  England  the 
promise  with  regard  to  the  Catholics  was  not  kept. 

The  Revolution  in  Scotland.  —  In  Scotland,  as  in  Ireland, 
William  was  forced  to  fight  for  his  crown,  but  the  opposition 
which  he  met  in  the  north  was  not  national,  as  in  Ireland. 
The  return  of  the  Stuarts  had  been  followed  by  the  over- 


Parliament 

at  Dublin. 


Relief  of 
London- 
derry. 


Treaty  of 
Limerick. 


Bright,  III, 

817-821, 

834-836. 


366 


Parties  and  Party  Govcrtmicnt 


Green, 

pp.  663,  664. 


Source-Book, 
292-297. 


Green, 
pp.  662,  671- 
673,  676. 
Bright,  III, 
8u,  831,836- 
838,  846-848, 
856-859. 


throw  of  the  rresl)yterian  Church  and  the  estabhshment  of 
Episcopacy.  All  resistance  was  relentlessly  crushed  out. 
As  a  result  the  Revolution  found  strong  support  among  the 
Scotch.  A  Claim  of  Right,  similar  to  the  English  Decla- 
ration of  Right,  was  adopted  by  the  Scottish  Parliament. 
The  crown  was  offered  to  William  and  accepted  by  him. 
Presbyterianism  was  again  established. 

The  Highlands  had  taken  little  part  in  the  overthrow  of 
the  Stuarts.  The  clansmen  were  lawless  and  half  savage, 
and  their  politics  were  chiefly  local.  Many  of  the  clans 
were  at  this  time  bitterly  hostile  to  the  great  Campbell 
family,  and  the  fact  that  Argyle,  the  head  of  the  Campbells, 
was  a  Whig,  was  sufficient  reason  for  championing  the 
Stuarts.  Dundee,  one  of  James's  supporters,  made  use  of 
this  feeling  to  stir  up  the  Highlanders  to  resist  the  new 
government.  An  English  army  was  sent  against  them,  and 
the  two  forces  met  in  the  Pass  of  Killiecrankie.  Dundee 
was  killed,  but  his  followers  succeeded  in  defeating  the  Eng- 
lish, who  were  hampered  in  attempting  to  use  the  bayonet^  at 
close  quarters.  Deprived  of  their  leader,  the  Highlanders 
returned  to  their  homes,  and  in  1691  the  distribution  of  a 
large  sum  of  money  among  the  chiefs  of  the  clans  brought 
them  one  by  one  to  submit  to  the  new  government. 

France  and  the  Coalition.  —  William  had  not  forgotten 
continental  affairs.  He  had  accepted  the  English  crown 
largely  that  he  might  throw  England  into  the  scales  against 
France.  The  French  attack  upon  Ireland  gave  just  grounds 
for  action,  and  in  1689  Parliament  declared  war.  The  same 
step  had  already  been  taken  by  the  Empire,  Austria,  Spain, 
Holland,  and  Brandenburg.  At  last  all  Europe  had  com- 
bined against  Louis,  whose  only  ally  was  the  Turk.  Never- 
theless for  a  time  France  held  her  own  against  the  unwieldy 
coalition,  and  it  was  not  until  1692  that  her  career  of 
success  was  checked.  In  that  year  Louis  XIV  planned  an 
invasion  of  England,  which,  if  successful,  would  restore  to 
James  his  crown  and  detach  England  from    the    coaUtion 

1  A  new  French  invt  ntion. 


ORUAV  k  C0.,EN6R'S.» 


368 


Parties  and  l^arty   Govcrtimcnt 


La  Hogue, 
1692. 


Peace  of 
Ryswick, 
1697. 


Bright,  III, 
832.  853. 


Green, 

pp.  696-699. 


l>ut  the  undertaking  entletl  in  failure.  \n  the  great  battle 
of  La  Hogue  (1692)  the  l''rench  fleet  was  completely  de- 
stroyed by  the  iMiglish  under  Admiral  Russell.  On  land 
Louis  was  still  victorious.  The  rival  armies  fought  in  Spain, 
in  Italy,  along  the  Rhine,  in  the  Netherlands  ;  and  at  every 
point  the  French  maintained  their  ground.  Finally  in  1695 
the  tide  began  to  turn.  Namur  fell ;  for  the  first  time  in 
fifty-two  years  the  French  met  with  a  reverse.  France  was 
becoming  exhausted  by  the  burden  of  years  of  war,  and 
Louis  was  anxious  to  bring  the  struggle  to  a  close.  Peace 
negotiations  were  finally  opened.  The  French  king  offered 
reasonable  terms,  but  the  coalition  held  off.  William,  how- 
ever, saw  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  treating  on  the  con- 
ditions proposed,  and  in  1697  a  general  peace  was  signed  at 
Ryswick.  Louis  acknowledged  William  as  king,  and  gave 
back  all  the  conquests  of  the  war.  At  last  a  check  was 
imposed  on  the  aggression  of  the  French. 

Jacobitism. — While  carrying  on  the  war  with  France, 
William  was  hampered  by  many  difficulties  at  home.  En- 
thusiasm for  the  Revolution  soon  cooled.  William's  cold, 
reserved  manners  and  his  undisguised  preference  for  Holland 
made  him  personally  unpopular.  The  favors  showered  upon 
the  Dutch  followers  of  the  king  alienated  many.  The  war 
entailed  heavy  taxation  and  hampered  commerce,  and  there 
was  a  strong  feeling  that  England's  interests  were  sacrificed 
for  the  sake  of  William's  continental  possessions.  James's 
supporters,  the  Jacobites,  were  untiring  in  their  efforts  to 
overthrow  the  Revolution  settlement.  The  government  was 
honeycombed  with  intrigue  and  treachery.  Some  even  of  the 
king's  ministers,  including  Admiral  Russell  and  Churchill, 
Earl  of  Marlborough,  entered  into  negotiations  with  James. 
Twice  an  invasion  by  the  French  cooperating  with  the 
Jacobites  was  attempted,  and  a  plot  to  assassinate  William 
was  wellnigh  successfiil. 

The  Whig  Ministry.  —  In  the  government  there  was  much 
disorder  and  corruption.  Parliament  did  nothing  to  better 
the  situation,  for  neither  party  felt  responsible  for- the  admin- 


TJic   Tory  Reaction  369 

istration.     In  the  House  of  Commons  there  was  no  assured 
majority.     One  day  so  many  \Vhigs  would  be  off  at  tennis  or 
a  cockfight  that  the  Tories  had  everything  their  own  way, 
but  the  following  day  conditions  might  be  reversed.     Parlia- 
ment was  supreme,  but  it  was  as  yet  unorganized.     Sunder- 
land, once  the  chief  counsellor  of  James  II,    suggested   a 
remedy  for  these  disorders.     By  his  advice,  the  king  gradu-   Party  re- 
ally excluded  from  his  ministry  all  but  Whigs,  in  order  that,   sponsibihty. 
one  party  alone  being  represented  in  the  government,  political 
responsibility  might  be  fixed  and  a  stable  support  secured. 
The  Whig  ministry  of  1696  was  the  first  homogeneous  min-    Bright,  ill, 
istry  in  English  history.^     Its  leading  members,    popularly   842. 
known  as  the  Junto,  were  Wharton,  a   man  of  great  ability  The  junto, 
but  of  the  worst  character,  Russell,  the  victor  at  La  Hogue, 
Somers,  who  was  prominent  in  the  bishops'  trial,  and  Mon- 
tague, distinguis"hed  in  literature  and  finance. 

In  spite  of  the  factious  behavior  of  Parliament   several   Bright,  iii, 
important  measures  were  carried.-     Through  clipping,  the   ^'^°'  ^"^3.  849- 
currency  of  the  realm  had  fallen  to  but  little  more  than  half 
its  proper  weight,  and  in  1696,  by  the  efforts  of  Montague, 
aided  by  Sir   Isaac   Newton,   a  comprehensive   scheme   of 
restoration  was  successfully  carried  out.    A  measure  of  great 
constitutional  importance  was  the  passage  of  a  new  Triennial   Triennial 
Act,  which  limited  the  life  of  a  Parliament  to  three  years.   ^'^'^'  ^^'*" 
Finally,  the  refusal  of  Parliament  to  renew  the  Licensing  Act 
in  1695  established  the  liberty  of  the  press.'^ 

The  Tory  Reaction.  —  Supported  by  the  Whigs,  William   Bright,  ill. 


1  It  was  the  first  recognition  of  the  principle  that  the  cooperation  of  the 
Commons  could  best  be  secured  through  a  ministry  acting  as  a  unit  in 
representing  the  dominant  opinions  of  the  House. 

2  Through  the  influence  of  Montague  a  government  loan  was  established. 
This  is  held  to  be  the  origin  of  the  National  Debt,  as  it  was  the  first  loan 
upon  which  the  interest  was  steadily  paid.  In  1694  the  Bank  of  England 
was  established.  The  effect  of  these  two  measures  was  to  interest  the 
moneyed  classes  in  the  maintenance  of  the  Revolution  Settlement. 

3  The  newspaper  dates  from  the  reign  of  James  I.  The  first  daily  paper 
appeared  in  1709.  During  the  seventeenth  century  licensing  acts  gave  the 
government  complete  control  of  printing,  and  it  was  not  until  the  reign  of 
George  III  that  public  affairs  and  parliamentary  proceedings  were  freely 
discussed  by  the  press. 

2  B 


859,  860,  864, 


3;o 


Pcvtics  and  Party  Goveninicnt 


Bright,  III, 
870. 


Act  of  Settle- 
ment, 
Old  South 
Leaflets, 
No.  19. 
Bright,  III, 
871. 


Green, 

pp.  701-704. 


carried  the  struggle  against  France  through  to  a  triumphant 
conclusion,  but  the  signing  of  the  peace  was  at  once  followed 
by  a  renewal  of  his  difficulties  with  Parliament.  The  horror 
of  a  standing  army  was  ingrained  in  Englishmen  at  this 
time,  and  with  the  aid  of  some  malcontent  Whigs  the  Tory 
party  succeeded  in  passing  an  act  reducing  the  army  to  seven 
thousand  men,  and  requiring  that  these  seven  thousand  should 
be  English  born.  William  felt  keenly  the  danger  of  so  great 
a  reduction  of  the  forces  in  the  unsettled  state  of  European 
politics,  and  he  was  touched  to  the  quick  by  the  attack  upon 
his  favorite  Dutch  guards.  He  was  with  difficulty  prevented 
from  abdicating.  The  next  step  of  the  opposition  was  to 
attack  the  royal  ministers.  The  Junto  was  broken  up,  and 
in  1700  William  was  forced  to  form  a  Tory  ministry.  The 
new  Parliament,  elected  in  accordance  with  the  Triennial 
Act,  was  strongly  Tory. 

The  government  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Tory  party. 
There  was  no  desire  to  undo  the  work  of  the  Revolution, 
and  in  1701  Parliament  passed  the  Act  of  Settlement,  giving 
the  succession  after  the  death  of  Anne,  who  was  child- 
less, to  the  Electress  of  Hanover,  granddaughter  of  James  I, 
and  to  her  descendants.  The  choice  of  Sophia  was  deter- 
mined by  the  fact  that  she  was  the  nearest  Protestant  heir. 
Additional  articles  of  the  Act  of  Settlement  stipulated  that 
henceforth  judges  should  hold  office,  not  at  the  king's 
pleasure,  but  during  good  behavior,  and  that  the  royal 
pardon  should  not  bar  an  impeachment. 

The  Spanish  Succession.  —  The  Tory  party  was  committed 
to  a  peace  policy,  and  it  showed  no  willingness  to  support 
the  king  in  renewing  the  struggle  against  France,  and  yet 
that  now  seemed  necessary,  if  William's  work  was  not  to 
be  all  undone.  In  1 700  Charles  H  of  Spain  died.  Louis 
XIV  had  long  been  intriguing  to  secure  the  Spanish  in- 
heritance for  one  of  his  family.  To  arrest  this  danger, 
William  had  endeavored  to  arrange  a  division  of  the  Span- 
ish possessions  among  the  claimants  to  the  throne,  and  had 
concluded  two  partition  treaties  with  Eouis  to  this  intent. 


The    War  of  tJic  Spanish  Success  ion         371 


By  Charles's  will,  however,  Philip  of  Anjou,  grandson  of  the 
French  king,  was  declared  heir  to  the  whole  of  the  Spanish 
territories.  In  defiance  of  a:ll  pledges  Louis  accepted  the 
inheritance  for  his  grandson.  Again  France  seemed  to 
menace  the  freedom  of  Europe,  but  in  face  of  the  Tory 
opposition  William  was  powerless  to  interfere. 

Just  at  this  moment  the  French  king  took  a  step  which 
united  all  England  against  him.  In  1701  James  II  died, 
and  Louis  at  once  acknowledged  as  king  of  England  the 
young  prince,  James  Edward,  commonly  known  as  the  Pre- 
tender. A  storm  of  indignation  swept  over  England.  Wil- 
liam used  the  opportunity  to  dissolve  Parliament,  and  the 
elections  resulted  in  a  Whig  majority.  An  act  was  passed 
requiring  all  holders  of  office  in  Church  and  State  to  take  an 
oath  abjuring  the  house  of  Stuart.  War  was  now  certain. 
In  the  moment  of  his  triumph  William  died. 

Anne  (1702-1714).  —  Anne  Stuart  was  a  good-hearted 
and  rather  commonplace  woman,  passionately  loyal  to  the 
Church  of  England  and  hostile  to  Dissenters  and  Papists  alike. 
A  revival  of  Tory  prospects  followed  Anne's  succession. 
Her  sympathies  were  with  the  Tories,  and  the  new  ministry, 
under  Lord  Godolphin,  was  drawn  almost  entirely  from  that 
party.  During  the  first  part  of  the  reign  Marlborough 
was  the  real  ruler  of  England,  so  complete  was  the  ascen- 
dency which  he  and  his  wife  had  acquired  over  the  queen. 
Circumstances  rather  than  principle  determined  Marlbor- 
ough's politics,  and  for  the  time  being  he  became  a  Tory. 

The  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession.  —  In  the  spring  of 
1702  the  war  so  ardently  desired  by  William  III  began. 
France  and  Spain  were  pitted  against  England,  Holland, 
Austria,  and  the  Empire.  The  coalition  was  guided  by  the 
unrivalled  military  genius  of  Marlborough.  The  war  was 
carried  on  at  sea,  as  well  as  on  land.  There  was  fighting 
in  all  the  disputed  territory,  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Germany, 
and  in  the  Spanish  Netherlands.  The  struggle  even  crossed 
the  Atlantic  and  involved  the  French  and  English  colonies 
in  the  New  World. 


Death  of 
James  II, 
1701. 

Bright,  III. 
873,  874. 


Marl- 
borough. 

Green, 

PP-  705-709- 

Bright,  III, 

874-877. 


Green, 

pp.  682-687. 

689,  690. 


Bright,  III. 
877-903. 


3/2  Parties  and  Party  (lovcriimcnt 

During  the  first  two  years  of  war  Marlborough  was  occu- 
pied in  securing  the  Dutch  against  attack  by  way  of  the 
Rhine  or  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  while  in  Italy,  Prince 
Eugene,  commander  of  the  Austrians,  strove  to  hold  back 
the  French.  The  most  important  fighting  in  1704  was  on 
the  upper  Danube.  Marlborough  and  p]ugene  had  joined 
forces,  and  together  they  succeeded  in  inflicting  an  over- 
Blenheim,  whelming  defeat  upon  the  French  at  Blenheim.  The  same 
1704-  yeai-  Gibraltar  was  surprised  and   captured  by  an  English 

force.  In  1 706  Marlborough  won  the  victory  of  Ramillies, 
leaving  the  French  scarcely  a  foothold  in  the  Spanish 
Netherlands.  At  the  same  time,  through  the  efforts  of 
Prince  Eugene,  they  were  swept  from  Italy.  During  the 
next  two  years,  with  many  alternations  of  success  and 
failure,  the  allies  slowly  gained  ground.  France  was  be- 
coming exhausted.  The  defeat  of  Oudenarde  and  the  fall 
of  Lille  (1708)  forced  Louis  to  sue  for  peace.  He  offered 
to  yield  every  point  for  which  the  war  had  been  fought.  He 
agreed  to  withdraw  aid  from  his  grandson,  to  acknowledge 
Anne,  to  expel  the  Pretender  from  French  territory.  But 
when,  in  opposition  to  Marlborough's  advice,  the  allies  in- 
sisted that  Louis  should  join  with  them  in  driving  Philip 
from  Spain,  the  great  king  drew  back.  "  If  I  must  wage 
war,"  he  said,  "I  would  rather  wage  it  against  my  enemies 
than  against  my  children." 
Green,  Marlborough  and  the  Whigs.  —  Marlborough's  chief  in- 

PP-  715.  710-    terest  in  English  politics  was  to  secure  support  in  carrying 
on  the  war.     At  first  he  had  relied  upon  the  Tories,  but  he 
Bright,  III,      was  gradually  forced  to  act  with  the  Whigs.     The  extreme 
908-915.  Tories  disliked  the  war  and  were  determined  that  England 

should  restrict  her  part  in  it  to  defensive  operations.  More- 
over, their  attempts  to  maintain  the  exclusive  suprem- 
acy of  the  English  Church  weakened  the  government  by 
alienating  the  Dissenters.  In  1703  and  1704  the  ministry 
was  remodelled  so  as  to  include  moderate  men  of  both  par- 
ties. Among  the  new  Tory  ministers  was  St.  John,  perhaps 
the    ablest  and   most  unscrupulous  politician   of  the   time. 


Fall  of  the   WJiigs  373 

The  popularity  of  the  war  and  the  divisions  among  the 
Tories  secured  a  majority  for  the  Whig  party  in  the  elections 
of  1705,  and  the  election  of  1708  strengthened  their  posi- 
tion, livery  change  in  the  ministry  was  in  their  interest, 
and  finally,  in  1708,  an  exclusively  Whig  cabinet  under 
Marlborough  and  Godolphin  was  established. 

It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  the  queen  was  brought  to 
the   point  of  accepting  the  Whig  ministers.     She  was   no 
longer   under  Marlborough's   influence   and  she  hated  the 
Whigs  as  the  foes  of  the  Church  and  of  the  royal  preroga- 
tive.    Every  change  in  the  ministry  which   tended  to  in- 
crease their  ascendency  met  with  her  bitter  opposition.    The 
Whig  ministry  of  1 708  was  therefore  a  cabinet  resting  upon  a 
majority  in  Parliament  and  imposing  its  will  upon  the  crown. 
Fall  of  the  Whigs.  —  The  triumph  of  the  Whigs  was  of 
brief  duration.     After  the  failure  of  the  peace  negotiations   Green, 
of  1709,   war   was    renewed.     At    Malplaquet    (1709)    the    PP' 717. 718 
allied  forces  under  Marlborough  and   Eugene  succeeded  in 
again  defeating   the  French,  though   with   tremendous  loss 
of  life.     But  England  was  growing  weary  of  the  war.     The 
rejection  of  the  French  terms  of  peace  was  unjustly  attrib- 
uted to  Marlborough's  desire  to  continue   a  contest  which 
gave  him  power  and   importance.     Since  the  fate  of  the 
Whigs  was  closely  bound   up  with  the  war,  they  began  to 
lose    ground.     Their   ruin    was  completed    by    the   unwise 
measures  of  the  ministry  against  Dr.  Sacheverell,  who,  in  a 
sermon  at  St.  Paul's,  upheld  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance 
and   attacked  toleration    and  the  Dissenters.     The  Whigs 
desired  an  opportunity  for  formally  stating  their  views  on 
the  Revolution  principles  of  resistance  and  toleration,  and 
Sacheverell  was  solemnly  impeached   before  the  House  of  Impeach- 
Lords  (1710).     The    matter  was   taken  up  by  the  whole   g^^^^JJ^^/^^^i,^ 
country.     There  was  a  tremendous  outburst  of  enthusiasm    j^iq. 
for  the  Church  and  the  principle  of  legitimacy.     The  House 
of  Lords  declared  Sacheverell  guilty,  but  dared  do  no  more 
than  to  prohibit  him  from  preaching  for  three  years  and  to 
order  his  sermons  to  be  burnt. 


374 


Parties  and  Party  Government 


Bright,  III, 

924-928. 

Green, 

pp.  687-689. 


Act  of 
Security. 


Act  of 
Union,  1707. 


The  result  of  the  trial  was  regarded  as  a  Tory  triumph, 
Sure  of  the  support  of  the  country,  the  queen  now  ventured 
to  act  in  accordance  with  her  feelings.  The  Whigs  were 
dismissed  from  office  and  a  purely  Tory  ministry  under  Har- 
ley  and  St.  John  was  formed.  The  election  of  i  710  resulted 
in  a  strong  majority  for  the  Tories,  and  during  the  remainder 
of  Anne's  reign  their  ascendency  was  unshaken. 

The  Union  of  England  and  Scotland.  —  The  renewal  of  the 
union  of  Scotland  and  England  as  established  under  the 
Commonwealth  was  strongly  favored  by  the  government. 
There  were  great  difficulties  in  the  way,  —  traditional  hos- 
tility, religious  division,  commercial  jealousy,  the   national 

pride  of  the  Scotch.  Scotland 
was  held  back  through  fear 
that  the  stronger  nation  would 
fail  to  respect  her  religious  and 
political  rights.  England  was 
unwilling  to  grant  commercial 
ecjuality  to  the  poorer  kingdom. 
The  discussion  of  the  terms  of 
union  aroused  great  bitterness. 
In  1703  the  Scottish  Parliament 
passed  the  Act  of  Security, 
which  provided  that  the  suc- 
cessor to  the  crown  of  Scotland  at  the  queen's  death  should 
not  be  the  same  person  as  the  successor  to  the  crown  of 
England  unless  full  security  was  given  for  freedom  of  religion 
and  trade.  The  English  Parliament  retorted  by  increasing 
the  commercial  restrictions  against  Scotland. 

The  advantages  of  union  to  both  nations  were,  however,  so 
great  that  the  Whig  ministers  finally  succeeded  in  carrying 
through  an  act  of  Union  (1707).  The  terms  were  wise  and 
liberal.  The  title  of  the  United  Kingdom  was  to  be  Great 
Britain.  There  was  to  be  one  Parliament,  and  Scotland 
received  full  representation  in  both  Houses.  Free  trade 
and  commercial  equality  were  established.  Security  was 
provided  for  the  national  Church  and  the  national  law  of 


Great  Seal  after  the  Union 


The   Tories  ajid  the  Peace  of  Utrecht        375 

the  Scotch.     To    both  countries  the  union  proved  an  un- 
mixed benefit. 

The  Tories  and  the  Peace  of  Utrecht. — The  new  Tory  p.riKht,  HI, 
ministry  was  bent  on  bringing  the  French  war  to  a  close.  915-921- 
It  spared  no  effort  to  throw  discredit  upon  the  upholders 
of  the  opposite  policy,  and  in  this  it  had  now  the  support 
of  Jonathan  Swift,  the  greatest  political  writer  of  the  time. 
In  the  Commons  the  ministerial  majority  was  sure,  but  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  the  Whigs,  led  by  Marlborough,  were 
strong  enough  to  secure  a  condemnation  of  the  peace 
policy.  To  overcome  their  opposition  Harley,  Earl  of 
Oxford,  induced  the  queen  to  create  twelve  new  Tory 
peers,  and  thus  bring  the  Upper  House  into  harmony  with 
the  Commons.  This  measure  was  of  great  constitutional 
importance,  since  it  indicated  that  hereafter  when  the  two 
Houses  disagreed  it  would  be  the  House  of  Lords  that 
must  give  way.  The  Tory  victory  over  the  Lords  was 
followed  by  an  attack  upon  Marlborough.  He  was  re- 
moved from  his  command  and  declared  guilty  of  pecu- 
lation by  the  House  of  Commons. 

Since  their  accession  to  office  in  1710  the  Tory  ministers 
had  been  carrying  on  negotiations  with  Louis.      Finally,  in 
1 713,  by  concluding  a  separate  truce  with  France,  the  Eng-   Green, 
lish  ministers  forced  all  the  allies  except  the  Emperor  to   pp-  ^93. 694- 
agree  to  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.     Philip  was  allowed  to  re-   Treaty  of 
tain  his  kingdom,  but  a  provision  was  added  to  the  effect  Utrechi, 
that   the   crowns   of  Spain    and   France   should   never   be   ^^^^' 
united.     England  secured  good  terms,  obtaining  Minorca 
and  Gibraltar  in  the    Mediterranean    and  in   America   the 
Hudson  Bay  territory,  Nova  Scotia,  Newfoundland,  and  the 
French  part  of  St.  Christopher.     By  a  special  treaty  with 
Spain,  called  the    Assiento,  English  merchants  were  given 
the  sole  right  of  supplying  the  Spanish  colonies  with  negro 
slaves^  and  also  permission  to  send  annually  one  trading  ship 
to  Panama.     As  an  offset  to  these  material  gains  England 

1  From  this  time  on  the  slave  trade  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  Bristol 
merchants. 


376 


Parties  and  Party  Government 


Green, 
p.  694. 
Bright,  III, 
922-924. 


Bolinsrbroke. 


Death  of 
Anne,  1714. 


had  lost  all  credit  abroad  by  her  shabby  treatment  of  her 
allies. 

The  Tories  and  the  Succession.  —  In  1 713  the  failing  health 
of  the  queen  brought  forward  the  question  of  the  succession. 
The  position  of  the  Tories  was  difficult.  They  had  nothing 
to  hope  from  the  accession  of  the  house  of  Hanover,  there 
were  many  who  desired  the  restoration  of  the  old  line,  and 
St.  John,  Lord  Bolingbroke,  and  some  of  the  leaders  had 
been  long  in  correspondence  with  the  Pretender.  It  was  cer- 
tain, however,  that  the  country  gentry  and  the  parish  clergy, 
the  strongest  elements  in  the  Tory  party,  would  refuse  to  ac- 
cept a  Catholic  king.  If  James  Edward  had  consented  at  this 
time  to  declare  himself  a  Protestant,  he  might  possibly  have 
obtained  the  crown,  but  he  loyally  refused  to  change  his  faith. 

Bolingbroke  did  not  give  up  his  endeavor  to  secure  the 
domination  of  the  Tory  party.  In  1714  he  carried  through 
Parliament  the  Schism  Act,  by  which  the  whole  education 
of  the  country  was  put  under  the  control  of  the  Church. 
Already,  by  the  Occasional  Conformity  Act  of  171 1,  it  was 
made  practically  impossible  for  Dissenters  to  hold  office  or  sit 
in  Parliament.  But  quarrels  in  the  ministry  delayed  the  com- 
pletion of  Bolingbroke's  schemes,  and  the  Whigs  acted  with 
wisdom  and  decision.  On  the  death  of  the  queen  in  August, 
1 7 14,  the  Elector  of  Hanover^  was  at  once  proclaimed  king. 

The  Early  Hanoverians.  —  The  unopposed  accession  of 
George  I  showed  that  after  a  struggle  of  almost  thirty  years, 


1  HOUSE   OF   HANOVER 

George  I,  1714-1727 

I 
George  H,  1727-1760 

I 
Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales 

I 
George  HI,  1760-1820 


I  \ 

George  IV,  1820-1830  William  IV,  1830-1837 

I 
Princess  Charlotte 


Edward,  Duke 
of  Kent 

I 
Victoria,  1837 


Fall  of  tJtc   Tories  377 

England  had  finally  accepted  the  principle  of  succession  by 
parliamentary  title.  The  people  were  glad  to  regard  the 
question  as  settled  and  to  turn  to  other  interests. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  new  rulers  to  arouse  enthusiasm 
or  to  call  out  personal  loyalty.  George  I  was  industrious 
and  businesslike,  and  George  II  was  a  fair  soldier ;  both 
were  honest  and  straightforward  men.  They  were  devoted 
to  Hanover  and  Hanoverian  politics,  and  they  cared  litUe 
for  England.  They  had  the  good  sense  to  recognize  the 
conditions  on  which  alone  they  could  hope  to  retain  the 
English  crown.  In  Hanover  they  were  petty  despots,  but 
in  England  they  made  no  attempt  to  tamper  with  a  consti- 
tution which  they  did  not  understand,  and,  save  where 
Hanoverian  interests  were  concerned,  they  gave  the  control 
of  affairs  unreservedly  into  the  hands  of  their  ministers.^ 

The  House  of  Hanover  and  the  Whigs.  —  The  accession  of  Green, 
the  house  of  Hanover  was  followed  by  forty-five  years  of  PP-  ^^^  72a 
unbroken  Whig  ascendency.  The  first  George  was  the  king 
of  a  party.  He  felt  that  he  owed  his  crown  to  the  Whigs, 
and  he  had  been  led  to  regard  all  Tories  as  Jacobites.  The 
alliance  which  he  established  with  the  Whigs  lasted  through- 
out his  reign  and  that  of  his  son,  George  II.  During  much 
of  this  time  a  Tory  party  scarcely  existed.  The  intrigues  of 
the  leaders  with  the  Pretender  resulted  in  the  breaking  up 
of  the  party,  one  section  going  over  to  Jacobitism,  another 
joining  the  Whigs.  In  the  earlier  Hanoverian  Parliaments, 
the  Tories  in  the  House  of  Commons  numbered  scarcely 
fifty.  For  forty-five  years  the  real  rulers  of  England  were 
the  leaders  of  the  Whig  party.  They  had  their  favor  of  the 
crown,  but  the  real  basis  of  their  power  was  the  steady  sup- 
port of  the  Dissenters  and  the  commercial  classes  and  the 
Parliamentary  influence  of  the  Whig  houses. 

Fall  of  the  Tories.  —  The  Parhament  which  met  in  1715    Bright,  ill, 
was  strongly  Whig.     Energetic  measures  were  taken  against  931.  932- 

1  George  I  spoke  no  English,  and  therefore  he  was  not  present  at 
cabinet  meetings,  thus  establishing  a  precedent  of  great  constitutional 
importance. 


378 


Parties  and  Party  Governinoii 


Attack  on  the 

Tory 

ministry. 


Green, 

pp.  696,  697. 

Jacobite 
rising,  17 15. 


Septennial 
Act,  1707. 

Bright,  III, 
938,  939- 


the  defeated  Tories.  The  negotiations  of  the  peace  of  Utrecht 
were  condemned.  Impeachment  was  still  the  accepted  way 
of  calling  ministers  to  account,  and  both  Oxford  and  Boling- 
broke  were  impeached  for  treason.  Uohngbroke  fled  to 
France  and  was  attainted.  Oxford  was  seized  and  com- 
mitted to  the  Tower  for  a  time,  when  the  proceedings  against 
him  were  dropped.  This  is  the  last  instance  in  English  his- 
tory of  a  political  impeachment. 

Whig  persecution  tended  to  increase  the  Jacobitism  of 
the  Tories.  Both  in  Scotland  and  in  England  there  were 
many  ready  to  rise  against  the  new  government.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1 715,  a  Jacobite  insurrection,  headed  by  the  Earl 
of  Mar,  broke  out  in  Scotland,  and  a  month  later  the 
Jacobites  of  the  north  of  England  took  up  arms.  The  rising 
was  mismanaged  from  beginning  to  end.  The  Pretender  did 
not  arrive  until  the  contest  was  really  decided,  while  the 
Whigs  acted  with  vigor.  On  November  13,  the  English  in- 
surgents were  defeated  at  Preston,  and  on  the  same  day  at 
Sheriffmuir,  Argyle  won  a  practical  victory  over  the  Scotch 
Jacobites.  The  only  effect  of  the  rising  was  to  strengthen  the 
Whigs  by  identifying  the  Tories  more  closely  with  Jacobitism. 

The  Triennial  Act  of  1694  Hmited  the  life  of  a  Parliament 
to  three  years,  and  a  general  election  was  due  in  17 17.  In 
the  excited  state  of  feeling  the  Whigs  dared  not  face  the 
country,  and  accordingly  they  passed  the  Septennial  Act  ^ 
(1716),  by  which  the  existing  Parliament  was  prolonged  four 
years.  This  action  of  the  Whigs  was  undoubtedly  high- 
handed and  perhaps  illegal,  but  the  establishment  of  the  house 
of  Hanover  as  well  as  their  own  tenure  of  power  was  at  stake. 

The  Stanhope  Ministry.  —  The  position  of  the  Whigs  was 
now  so  secure  that  they  fell  to  quarrelling  among  them- 
selves and  they  soon  broke  into  two  parties,  one  headed  by 
Townshend  and  Walpole,  the  other  by  Sunderland  and  Stan- 
hope. In  1717a  new  ministry,  in  which  Townshend  and  Wal- 
pole were  not  included,  was  organized  with  Stanhope  as  chief. 

1  Under  this  act,  which  still  remains  in  force,  the  duration  of  a  Parlia- 
ment is  limited  to  seven  years. 


TJie  Ministry  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole  379 

The  danger  from  the  Jacobites  as  well  as  the  industrial  Gre 
needs  of  the  country  led  the  Whigs  to  support  peace  Pi^- 7- 
measures.  Their  foreign  policy  was  directed  to  securing  the 
maintenance  of  the  terms  of  the  peace  of  Utrecht.  In  1 7 1 7 
Stanhope  succeeded  in  forming  with  France  and  Holland 
what  is  known  as  the  Triple  Alliance.  It  was  based  on  an 
entire  reversal  of  the  policy  of  Louis  XIV.  The  French 
government  now  gave  its  adherence  to  the  Protestant  suc- 
cession in  England  and  agreed  to  banish  the  Pretender 
from  its  territories,  and  the  complete  separation  of  the 
French  and  Spanish  crowns  was  conceded. 

In  1721  the  Stanhope  ministry  was  ruined  by  the  South  Bright,  ill, 
Sea  Bubble.  The  reestablishment  of  peace  had  been  948-953- 
followed  by  a  great  increase  in  trade  and  speculation. 
Many  trading  companies  were  formed.  The  most  im- 
portant of  these  was  the  South  Sea  Company.  Through  South  Sea 
the  Assiento  the  company  had  prospered  greatly.  In  Bubble. 
1720,  desiring  to  extend  its  financial  operations,  it  struck  a 
bargain  with  the  government  by  which  holders  of  the  na- 
tional debt  were  allowed  to  transfer  their  loans  to  the  South 
Sea  Company.  As  exaggerated  ideas  prevailed  with  regard 
to  the  wealth  of  Spanish  America,  enormous  profits  were  ex- 
pected and  there  was  such  a  rush  for  the  South  Sea  Company's 
stock  that  the  shares  soon  stood  at  one  thousand  per  cent.  A 
madness  of  speculation  surged  over  the  country.  In  a  fever- 
ish desire  to  get  rich  quickly,  people  invested  their  money 
in  all  kinds  of  worthless  and  bogus  enterprises.  In  1721  the 
crash  came,  the  bubble  companies  failed,  the  South  Sea  shares 
went  down  rapidly.  Thousands  were  beggared.  Through 
its  connection  with  the  South  Sea  Company  the  ministry  was 
held  responsible  for  the  disasters  that  had  befallen  the  coun- 
try. It  was  overthrown,  and  Walpole,  whose  financial  ability 
was  well  known,  was  called  to  take  charge  of  the  adminis- 
tration. 

The  Ministry  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  —  In   1721   Walpole   Green, 
became  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  Chancellor  of  the   PP^^ga,  699, 
Exchequer,  and  he  continued  to  hold  these  offices  practi- 


38o 


Parties  and  Party  Government 


Bright,  III, 
y66. 


Green, 

pp.  730-732. 


Bright,  III, 
957.  973-975- 


Saintsbury, 

Political 

Pamphlets. 


Excise  Bill. 


cally  without  a  break  for  twenty-one  years.  Even  the  death 
of  George  I  (1727)  did  not  permanently  shake  Walpole's 
power;  for,  through  the  influence  of  Queen  CaroHne,  a 
very  able  woman,  the  new  king,  George  II  (i  727-1760), 
was  induced  to  give  his  confidence  to  his  father's  minister, 
Walpole's  administration  forms  an  important  period  in  Eng- 
lish history,  but  it  is  devoid  of  striking  events.  This  was 
due  mainly  to  the  influence  of  the  great  minister.  To  estab- 
lish the  Revolution  settlement  and  to  restore  the  commer- 
cial and  industrial  prosperity  of  the  country  were  the  objects 
of  his  policy.  Peace  abroad  and  contentment  at  home  were 
essential  to  the  success  of  his  plans.  It  was  his  constant 
efibrt,  therefore,  to  keep  England  out  of  war,  and  to  avoid 
stirring  up  trouble  among  the  people.  He  took  for  his 
motto  Qi/ieta  non  vwvere  (let  sleeping  dogs  lie).  The 
country  had  just  passed  through  eighty  years  of  revolution. 
He  felt  that  it  needed  repose,  not  reform. 

Finance.  —  Walpole  was  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of 
finance  that  England  has  ever  had.  His  measures  were 
timely.  He  reduced  the  debt  and  hghtened  the  customs. 
Some  of  his  plans  miscarried,  however,  through  unreasoning 
popular  opposition,  skilfully  played  upon  byhis  political  oppo- 
nents. In  1730  an  Englishman  named  Wood  was  granted  a 
patent  to  issue  a  new  copper  coinage  for  Ireland.  The  coins 
were  of  good  value,  the  need  for  them  was  undoubted,  and 
no  one  was  obliged  to  take  them  against  his  will.  But  Irish 
opposition  to  any  measure  of  the  English  government  was 
ready.  Dean  Swift,  Walpole's  bitter  enemy,  fomented  the 
dissatisfaction  with  the  famous  Drapiers  Letters.  Walpole 
would  run  no  risk  of  an  outbreak,  and  the  patent  was  with- 
drawn. A  far  more  important  measure  was  defeated  by 
popular  violence  in  England.  The  Excise  Bill  of  1733  was 
simply  a  proposal  to  transfer  wine  and  tobacco  from  the 
customs  to  the  excise ;  that  is,  to  replace  the  duty  on  im- 
portation by  a  tax  on  home  consumption.  The  change 
would  put  a  stop  to  smuggling  and  so  augment  the  revenue 
that  the  land  tax  might  be  reduced,  to  the  gratification  of 


Foreign  Affairs  381 

the  country  gentlemen,  a  class  Walpole  desired  to  conciliate. 
In  addition,  it  would  tend  to  make  London  a  free  port, 
and  in  consequence  a  more  important  market.  But  the 
character  of  the  measure  was  misunderstood,  and  it  was 
greeted  with  a  fierce  popular  outcry.  The  opposition, 
aided  by  the  Craftsman,  a  famous  Tory  paper,  spared 
no  pains  to  increase  the  agitation.  Walpole's  majority  in 
the  House  was  secure,  but  he  refused  to  force  his  measure 
upon  an  unwilling  people,  and  the  scheme  was  abandoned. 

In  the  main  Walpole's  commercial  and  colonial  policy 
was  a  policy  of  non-interference,  but  where  he  did  interfere 
he  was  guided  by  sound  principle.  In  the  king's  speech  of 
1 72 1  it  was  declared  to  be  the  purpose  of  the  government 
"  to  make  the  exportation  of  our  own  manufactures,  and  the 
importation  of  the  commodities  used  in  the  manufacturing 
of  them,  as  practicable  and  as  easy  as  may  be."  Accord- 
ingly export  duties  were  removed  from  one  hundred  and 
six  articles  of  British  manufacture,  and  import  duties  from 
thirty-eight  articles  of  raw  material.  Other  wise  measures  Colonial 
removed  some  of  the  restrictions  on  the  foreign  trade  of  measures. 
the  American  and  West  Indian  colonies.  The  results  of 
Walpole's  policy  were  shown  in  the  increased  prosperity 
of  the  colonies,  and  in  the  striking  growth  of  England's  trade 
with  them. 

Foreign  Affairs.  —  With  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  opposi- 
tion to  France,  the  controlling  principle  of  European  com- 
binations for  half  a  century,  ceased  to  have  any  force.  The 
uncertainty  of  continental  politics  during  the  next  genera- 
tion was  shown  in  a  series  of  alliances  and  counter-alliances. 
England's  part  in  foreign  affairs  was  determined  by  Wal- 
pole's desire  to  maintain  a  general  peace,  and  to  keep 
England  out  of  war  at  all  hazards.  His  poHcy,  like  Stan- 
hope's, was  based  on  an  alliance  with  France.  Both  the 
peace  policy  and  the  French  alliance  aroused  bitter  oppo- 
sition, and  in  1733  it  seemed  certain  that  Walpole  would 
have  to  give  way  on  both  points.  France  and  Spain  had  The  Family 
just   concluded    the    Family    Compact,  binding  themselves   Compact. 


382 


Parties  and  Party  Govcrfimcnt 


Green, 

pp.  702-705. 

Blight,  III, 

967-969, 

980-984. 


War  with 
Spain,  1739. 


Bright,  III, 
984-987. 


to  oppose  England's  commercial  and  colonial  expansion. 
The  king  and  queen,  a  majority  in  the  Cabinet  and  in  the 
nation,  were  determined  to  force  England  to  give  up  her 
neutrality  and  declare  war.  Still  Walpole  did  not  yield. 
"Madam,"  he  said  to  the  queen  one  morning  in  1734, 
"  there  are  fifty  thousand  men  slain  this  year  in  Europe,  and 
not  one  Englishman."  Largely  through  his  efforts  a  general 
pacification  was  arranged  in  1735. 

The  Opposition.  —  But  the  end  of  peace  was  at  hand. 
The  opposition  was  growing  strong.  It  was  made  up  of 
several  different  elements,  —  a  little  band  of  Tories  led  by 
Bolingbroke,  now  back  in  England,  disappointed  Whigs, 
who  called  themselves  the  Patriots,  a  group  of  young  men, 
the  Young  Patriots,  who  were  disgusted  v/ith  the  corruption 
in  government,  and  held  Walpole  responsible  for  it  all. 
At  the  head  of  the  opposition  was  Frederick,  Prince  of 
Wales,  a  worthless  young  man,  chiefly  influenced  by  a 
desire  to  vex  his  father,  with  whom  he  had  quarrelled. 
Difficulties  with  Spain  soon  gave  a  good  chance  for  attack 
upon  Walpole.  Under  the  Assiento  giving  England  the  right 
to  send  annually  one  trading  ship  to  Spanish  America,  an 
extensive  smuggling  trade  had  sprung  up.  In  their  efforts 
to  check  this  the  Spanish  officials  sometimes  treated  the 
English  traders  with  great  brutality.  Popular  feeling  be- 
came much  aroused.  The  opposition  spared  no  efforts  to 
increase  the  agitation.  A  certain  Captain  Jenkins  was 
brought  before  a  committee  of  the  House  to  tell  the  tale  of 
how  his  ear  was  torn  off  by  a  Spanish  naval  officer  who 
boarded  his  ship  in  search  of  contraband.  Walpole  could 
not  withstand  the  storm  of  indignation  that  swept  over  the 
country.     In  1 739  war  was  declared  against  Spain. 

Fall  of  Walpole. —  For  two  years  longer  Walpole  remained 
in  office.  The  war  against  Spain  was  not  successful,  and  he 
was  held  responsible.  In  i  741  a  general  election  reduced  his 
majority  in  the  Commons.  Election  petitions  were  at  that 
time  decided  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  entirely  on 
party    grounds.      On    the    Chippenham   election    petition, 


Tlie  Constitution  nnder   Walpole 


383 


Walpole  was  beaten  by  a  majority  of  one.  Early  in  1742 
he  resigned.  His  work  was  done.  He  had  secured  for 
England  nearly  twenty  years  of  peace,  he  had  established 
the  house  of  Hanover  firmly  on  the  throne,  he  had  advanced 
the  material  interests  of  the  country. 


The  Old  House  of  Commons 

From  an  Old  Print 


The  Constitution  under  "Walpole. —  During  Walpole's  long 
tenure  of  office  the  cabinet  system  received  definite  shape. 
He  was  the  first  English  minister  who  may  rightly  be  called 


384 


Pai'tics  and  Party  Govcrnvicnt 


Green, 

pp.  722,  723, 

764.  765- 


Source-Book, 

302-305, 

318-320. 


The 
franchise. 


prime  minister.  He  was  head  of  the  cabinet,  he  chose  his 
colleagues  in  that  body,  the  policy  of  the  government  was 
his  policy.  His  ministry  was  practically  a  unit,  and  his  power 
was  founded  directly  on  the  support  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  he  resigned  when  he  lost  that  support.  The 
House  of  Commons  did  not,  however,  represent  the  nation. 
Constitutional  development  stopped  short  at  this  point. 

The  Revolution  of  1688  secured  the  supremacy  of  Parlia- 
ment over  the  executive,  but  that  did  not  mean  government 
by  the  people.  A  few  great  families  ruled  the  nation  in  the 
name  of  a  king  who  was  a  mere  figure-head,  and  by  the 
authority  of  a  Parliament  which  they  systematically  corrupted. 
Power  had  been  acquired  without  a  corresponding  increase 
of  responsibility.  Debates  were  secret,  division  lists  ^  were 
never  published,  public  opinion  could  exert  but  little  in- 
fluence. Moreover,  the  electoral  system  was  such  that  the 
House  in  nowise  represented  the  nation.  In  the  counties 
there  had  been  no  change  in  the  franchise  since  the  time 
of  Henry  VI.  The  manner  of  holding  land  had  been  modi- 
fied, and  new  forms  of  property  had  come  into  existence, 
but  the  electors  were  still  the  forty-shilling  freeholders. 
The  condition  of  the  towns  was  far  worse.  Many  had 
fallen  under  the  control  of  the  corporations,  and  the  right 
of  voting  was  limited  to  a  mere  handful  of  the  inhabitants. 
In  others,  all  sorts  of  anomalous  franchises  existed.  In 
Weymouth,  for  example,  the  title  to  any  share  of  certain 
ancient  rents  constituted  the  qualification  for  voting.  The 
report  of  a  commission  of  inspection  showed  that  several 
electors  voted  by  right  of  their  claim  to  an  undivided 
twentieth  part  of  a  sixpence.  For  generations  there  had 
been  no  reapportionment  of  seats.  Population  had  shifted 
without  a  corresponding  change  of  representation.  Lan- 
cashire, with  nearly  one  and  a  half  million  inhabitants, 
had  fourteen  representatives ;  Cornwall's  three  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants  returned  forty-four  members.     Great 

1  It  was  not  until  1836  that  the  House  of  Commons  adopted  the  plan  of 
recording  and  publishing  day  by  day  the  votes  of  every  member. 


TJie  Religious  Revival  385 

cities  like  Birmingham  and  Manchester  were  unrepresented, 
while  old  Sarum,  with  but  one  house,  and  Dunwich,  which 
had  disappeared  under  the  waves  of  the  North  Sea,  still 
returned  their  two  members.  It  was,  in  the  words  of 
Burke,  a  system  of  "  represented  ruins  and  unrepresented 
cities." 

Political  Corruption. —  Such  a  condition  of  things  natu- 
rally invited  corruption.  Many  of  the  towns  were  "pocket " 
or  nomination  boroughs,  controlled  by  some  neighboring 
noble  or  landowner.  Others  were  put  up  publicly  for  sale,  Sale  of 
the  customary  price  being  about  ^4000.  Contested  elec-  ^®^*^- 
tions,  when  they  occurred,  involved  the  expenditure  of  im- 
mense sums  of  money.  One  in  Yorkshire  in  1807  cost  nearly 
7^150,000.  Under  this  condition  of  things,  systematic 
bribery  seemed  the  only  means  of  securing  party  success 
or  of  giving  stability  to  the  government.  Corruption  began 
with  the  meanest  voter  and  ended  in  the  cabinet.  Large 
sums  were  expended  in  the  purchase  of  seats.  Places  and  Bribery, 
pensions  and  titles  were  the  rewards  held  out  to  the  sup- 
porters of  the  administration.  In  the  first  Parliament  of 
George  I  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  of  the  members 
held  offices  or  pensions.  One  of  the  most  arduous  duties 
of  the  ministers  was  the  disposal  of  the  secret  service  funds. 
At  one  time  an  office  was  established  at  the  treasury  for  the 
purchase  of  members,  and  more  than  ;;^20,ooo  are  said  to 
have  been  spent  in  a  single  day.  The  example  of  the  gov- 
ernment was  followed  by  all  the  great  lords.  Careful  esti- 
mates showed  that  at  least  three-fifths  of  the  members  of 
the  House  were  returned  by  the  crown  and  by  one  hundred 
and  sixty-two  private  individuals. 

The  Religious  Revival. —  Under  the  early  Hanoverians,   Green, 
there  was  a  marked  decline  in  religious  feeling  and  moral   PP-  706-711. 

1  ,  ,  •  r^.  ,  Bright,  III. 

earnestness  throughout  the  nation.      The  upper  classes  were   1015-1017. 
material    and    sceptical,    the    lower   classes    ignorant    and 
binital.     Neither   the    Church    nor   the    Dissenting   bodies   Source-Book, 
seemed  able  to  cope  with  the   existing  evil.     The  Church   332-335- 
was  weakened  by  division.      To    counteract    the   Jacobite 
2  c 


386  Parties  and  Party  Government 

tendencies  of  the  clergy,  appointments  to  high  ecclesiastical 
offices,  which  were  controlled  by  the  crown,  had  been  con- 
fined to  Whigs.  As  a  result  the  upper  clergy  were  Whig 
and  Hanoverian,  while  the  lower  clergy  were  Tory  or  Jaco- 
bite. The  bishops  reflected  the  tone  of  the  fashionable 
world  ;  they  were  latitudinarian  and  unspiritual,  and  many 
of  them  were  non-resident.  The  parish  clergy  were  usually 
narrow  and  ignorant.  Among  the  Dissenters,  religious  zeal 
had  cooled,  and  the  Roman  Catholics  were  powerless. 

Here  and  there  thinking  men  like  Bishop  Butler  strove  to 
inspire  the  Church  with  new  life,  but  it  was  the  Wesleys 
and   Whitfield   who    took   up    the    work    of    moving   the 
The  masses.     The    Methodist    movement,   which   started  about 

Methodists.  1730,  received  its  name  from  the  college  nickname  of 
the  group  of  Oxford  men  who  were  its  guiding  spirits. 
John  Wesley,  an  ordained  clergyman  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  was  the  undisputed  leader  and  organizer  of 
the  movement.  The  aim  of  Wesley  and  his  associates 
was  to  make  religion  more  heartfelt,  to  bring  it  to  the 
masses  untouched  by  the  cold  formalism  of  the  Church. 
Outdoor  preaching  was  their  means  of  reaching  the  people. 
The  results  were  tremendous.  Immense  crowds  gathered 
wherever  they  went.  As  many  as  twenty  thousand  assem- 
bled at  one  time  to  hear  Whitfield,  the  great  preacher  of  the 
Methodists.  At  first  Wesley  had  no  thought  of  separating 
from  the  Church,  but  the  narrow-minded  hostility  of  the 
clergy  gradually  forced  him  to  organize  congregations  out- 
side the  Church.  Before  he  died  he  had  built  up  a  great 
religious  society  whose  influence  was  transforming  the  char- 
acter of  the  lower  classes.  But  Methodism  did  more  than 
this  ;  it  aroused  the  Church  from  its  lethargy,  and  the  Evan- 
gelical movement  was  the  result.  Indirectly  it  stimulated 
Philanthropy,  philanthropic  interest.  The  labors  of  John  Howard  on  be- 
half of  the  felon  and  the  imprisoned  debtor,  the  efforts  of 
Clarkson  and  Wilberforce  to  put  down  the  slave  trade,  can 
be  traced  to  that  sympathy  with  mankind  which  was  the 
foundation  of  the  Wesleyan  propaganda. 


Importaiit  Ei'ents  3^7 

Important  Events 

William  and  Mary,  i  689-1 702. 

The  Bill  of  Rights,  1689. 
The  Act  of  Toleration,  1689. 
War  with  France,  1 689-1697. 
Act  of  Settlement,  1701. 

Anne,  1702-17 14. 

War  with  France,  1 702-1 71 3. 
Blenheim,  Gibraltar,  1704. 
Union  with  Scotland,  1707. 
Treaty  of  Utrecht,  171 3. 

EARLY   HANOVERIANS 

George  I,  1714-1727.     George  II,  1727-1760. 
Septennial  Act,  1716. 
Ministry  of  Walpole,   1721-742. 
Family  Compact,  1733- 


388  Parties  and  Party  Government 


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CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   STRUGGLE   FOR   EMPIRE 
Books  for  Consultation 

Sources 

Donne,  Correspondence  of  George  III  ana  Lord  North. 

Chatham,  Speeches  and  Correspondence. 

Adams,  British  Orations. 

Adams  and  Stephens,  Hill,  Henderson,  as  before. 

Special  Authorities 

Blauvelt,  Development  of  Cabinet  Government. 

May,  Constitutional  History  of  England. 

Lecky,  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

Hunt,  Political  History  of  England,  Vol.  X. 

Morley,  IValpole,  Edmund  Burke. 

Trevelyan,  Life  of  Charles  James  Fox,  The  American  Revolution, 

Macaulay,  Essays  on  Chatham  attd  on  Clive. 

Goldwin  Smith,  Pitt  {in  Three  English  Statesmen). 

Seeley,  Expansion  of  England. 

Cotton  and  Payne,  Colonies  and  Dependencies. 

Lucas,  Introduction  to  the   Historical    Geography   of  the  British 

Colonies. 
Bradley,  Fight  with  France  for  N'orth  America. 
Parkman,  Montcalm  and  Wolfe. 
Mahan,  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History. 
Lyall,  British  Dottiinion  in  India. 
Oman,  England  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

"The  Second  Hundred  Years'  War."  —  Sixty-four  out  of  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  years  that  divide  the  Revolution 
from  the  battle  of  Waterloo  were  spent  in  war.  From  the 
continental  point  of  view  the  occasion  for  these  wars  of  the 

389 


390  The  Struggle  for  Empire 

Seeicy,  eighteenth  century  was  usually  dynastic.     There  was  the  war 

Expansion  ^f  j-j-j^  Spanish  Succession,  and  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Sue- 
Lecture  II.'  cession,  and  the  Seven  Years'  War  between  Frederick  II  of 
Prussia  and  Maria  Theresa.  England  took  part  in  all  these 
great  contests,  but  her  object  was  mainly  the  extension  of 
colonial  and  commercial  power  ;  her  interest  was  determined 
by  her  rivalry  with  France.  This  is  shown  in  the  invariable 
accompaniment  of  fighting  in  America,  in  the  King  William's 
War  and  the  Queen  Anne's  War  and  the  French  and  Indian 
wars  of  the  colonists. 

At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  efforts  of 
Colbert,  the  great  French  minister,  had  i)laced  France  in 
the  foremost  rank  of  colonial  powers.  She  had  established 
herself  in  India,  in  Africa,  and  in  the  West  Indies.  Her  hold 
upon  the  American  continent  seemed  far  more  assured  than 
England's.  She  controlled  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  two  great  waterways  of  America,  and  Canada, 
Acadia,  and  Louisiana  were  in  her  possession.  The  English 
colonies  were  blocked  by  the  Spanish  on  the  south,  on  the 
north  and  toward  the  west  by  the  French.  In  1701  Philip 
of  Anjou  accepted  the  Spanish  crown,  and  Louis  declared 
with  truth,  "  The  French  and  Spanish  nations  are  so  united 
that  they  will  henceforth  be  only  one."  To  the  ambition 
and  enterprise  of  the  French  was  now  joined  Spain's  vast 
colonial  power.  England's  fears  were  aroused  at  the  dangers 
that  menaced  her  commercial  and  colonial  importance,  and 
she  made  ready  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  her  great  rival. 
England  in  India.  —  Vasco  da  Gama's  discovery  of  a  new 
route  to  India  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  renewed  the 
direct  connection  between  Europe  and  India  which  had  been 
broken  since  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great.  The  first  to 
take  advantage  of  Da  Gama's  discoveries  were  the  Portuguese, 
and  by  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  they  had  established 
themselves  at  Goa  on  the  western  coast  of  India,  and  north- 
ward as  fiir  as  Ormuz  in  the  Persian  Gulf.  Toward  the  end 
of  the  century  the  Dutch  appeared,  and  they  secured  a  foot- 
hold both  on  the  mainland  and  in  the  Spice  Islands. 


Fra7ice  in  India  39' 

England's  connection  with  India  began  with  the  establish- 
ment of  the  East  India  Company  in  1600.  The  object  of 
the  company  was  to  secure  a  share  of  the  trade  of  the  East. 
Their  progress  at  first  was  slow,  but  before  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  they  had  succeeded  in  establishing  the 
three  factories  of  Madras,  Bombay,  and  Calcutta.  Dutch 
and  Portuguese  rivalry  was  dying  out,  and  F^ngland's  mo- 
nopoly of  the  Indian  trade  seemed  assured  when  a  new  and 
more  dangerous  conipetitor  appeared. 

France  in  India.  —  Not  until  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV  did 
France  enter  the  Indian  field,  but  the  French  Company, 
which  was  formed  in  1684,  showed  great  enterprise  and 
speedily  established  flourishing  trading-posts  at  Chander- 
nagor  on  the  Hugh,  Pondicherry,  eighty  miles  south  of 
Madras,  and  in  Mauritius  and  the  Isle  de  Bourbon.  About 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  English  and 
French  companies  came  into  active  competition. 

In  1707  the  long  reign  of  Aurung-Zeb,  the  greatest  of 
the  Mogul  emperors,  came  to  a  close.  Aurung-Zeb 
had  succeeded  in  establishing  the  Mogul  supremacy  over 
most  of  the  main  part  and  peninsula  of  India,  but  upon  his 
death  his  great  empire  began  at  once  to  break  up.  Power 
fell  into  the  hands  of  nabobs  or  viceroys  who  were  practically 
independent,  although  nominally  owing  allegiance  to  the 
court  of  Delhi.  India  sank  rapidly  into  a  state  of  chronic 
war,  torn  by  invasions  and  rebellions  and  quarrels  over  dis- 
puted successions. 

The  governor  of  the  French  presidency  of  Pondicherry 
was  Dupleix,  a  man  of  great  force  and  genius.  With  re- 
markable penetration  Dupleix  saw  the  possibilities  of  Indian 
politics,  and  the  methods  to  be  pursued,  and  he  went  to 
work  with  much  patience  and  adroitness  to  build  up  a  French 
empire  in  India.  The  rivalries  and  quarrels  of  the  native 
princes  were  his  opportunity,  but  the  secret  of  his  success 
lay  in  his  realization  of  the  two  facts  that  while  the  untrained 
native  armies  could  not  stand  against  European  discipline, 
it  was  possible  to  impart  that  discipUne  and  efficiency  to 


392  TJie  Struggle  for  Empire 

native  levies.  Backed  by  sepoys,  hired  native  troops  led 
and  drilled  by  Europeans,  he  jiroceeded  to  interfere  in  Indian 
affairs  wherever  opportunity  offered,  holding  the  balance  of 
power,  placing  his  claimant  upon  the  throne,  and  finally 
securing  controlling  influence.  So  great  was  his  success, 
that  by  1750  he  had  obtained  complete  ascendency  in  the 
Carnatic,  and  was  practically  supreme  over  the  whole  of  the 
Deccan. 

The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession.  —  There  was  some 
See  page  383.  difficulty  in  forming  a  ministry  after  Walpole's  fall  in  1742. 
The  Tories  were  still  too  weak  to  obtain  recognition,  and  the 
Whig  factions  were  agreed  only  in  opposing  Walpole.  A 
ministry  was  finally  organized  under  the  control  of  the  two 
brothers  Pelham  and  NewcasUe,  and  Carteret.  During  the 
next  few  years  domestic  interests  were  forced  into  the  back- 
ground by  foreign  affairs.  In  1740  the  War  of  the  Austrian 
Green,  704,  Succession  broke  out.  In  that  year  Maria  Theresa  succeeded 
712,  715.  ^Q  ^j^g  possession  of  the  Austrian  territories,  and  was  at  once 
forced  to  defend  her  inheritance  against  the  attacks  of 
Prussia,  France,  and  other  European  powers,  most  of  whom 
had  sworn  to  defend  her  rights.  Walpole,  true  to  his  deter- 
mination to  avoid  war,  had  striven  to  effect  a  peaceable 
settlement  of  the  matter.  When  Carteret  took  control  of 
foreign  affairs,  a  more  spirited  policy  was  adopted.  An 
alliance  was  entered  into  with  Austria,  British  troops  were 
sent  over  to  the  Continent,  the  navy  was  increased,  Han- 
overian forces  were  taken  into  English  pay.  In  1743  a 
body  of  Hessians  and  Hanoverians  under  George  II  de- 
feated the  French  at  Dettingen. 

Gradually  England's  interest  in  the  war  changed.  The 
object  was  no  longer  to  defend  Austria,  but  to  crush  France. 
In  1743  the  Family  Compact  between  France  and  Spain 
was  renewed.  Moreover,  the  commercial  and  colonial 
rivalry  between  the  Bourbon  powers  and  England  was 
forced  to  the  front.  After  1744  there  was  fighting  in  India 
and  America,  as  well  as  in  Europe.  Carteret,  who  took  a 
continental  view  of  the  situation,  wished  to  form  a  European 


TJie  Jacobite  Rebellion  393 

combination,   and   to  conquer  the   French  on  land.     The  Bright,  iii, 
English  people,  on  the  other  hand,  desired  that  England  ^°"'  ^°^^- 
should  concentrate  her  energies  upon  a  naval  struggle  with 
France,     In  1744  Carteret  retired  from  the  Cabinet,  but  no 
change  of  policy  followed.     The  contest  continued  for  four 
years  longer,  the  campaigns   marked   throughout  by   inca- 
pacity on  the  part  of  the  English,  the  only  real  success  be- 
ing won  by  the  colonials  in  the  capture  of  Louisburg.     In  1745. 
1 748  the  war  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-  Treaty  of 
Chapelle,  which  was,  however,  nothing  more  than  a  truce,  ^^[^'2' 
for  it  settled  none  of  the  great  issues  that  divided  Europe. 

The   Jacobite    Rebellion  of   1745. — While   England  was 
still  at  war  with  France,  a  Jacobite  rising  in  Scotland  proved 
the  justice  of  Walpole's  fear  that  foreign  war  would  be  the  Green,  713, 
signal  for  a  renewed  attempt  to  overthrow   the   house  of  7^5- 
Hanover.     In  August,   1745,   Prince  Charles   Edward,   the  Bright,  ill. 
Young  Pretender,  landed  in  the  western  Highlands  with  a  999-1009. 
small  band  of  followers.     After  a  little  hesitation  some  of 
the  clans  rallied  to  his  standard.     At  this  time  there  were 
few  regular  troops  in  Scotland,  and  the  Pretender  succeeded 
in  leading  his  Highlanders  as  far  south  as  Derby.     But  he 
was  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  rallying  the  English  to  his 
support ;  the  people  remained  apathetic,  neither  supporting 
nor  opposing  his  advance.     At  Derby,  the  approach  of  troops 
under  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  forced  him  to  retreat  north- 
ward.    In  the  following  spring,  his  forces  were  completely 
defeated  at  Culloden,  near  Inverness,  and  he  was  forced  to  Cuiioden, 
flee  to  France.     He  never  had  much  chance  of  success,  for   ^746. 
he  found  no  support  except  among  the  Highlanders,     This 
was  the  last  rising  of  the  Jacobites.     Although   there  was 
little  enthusiasm  for  the  House  of  Hanover,  it  was  plain  that 
the  cause  of  the  Stuarts  was  lost.^     To  prevent  further  diffi- 
culty, severe    restrictions   were    imposed   upon    the    High- 
landers ;  they  were  forbidden  to  wear  the  tartan,  and  the 
power  of  the  chiefs  of  the  clans  was  greatly  Hmited.     A  little 

1  The  last  descendant  in  the  male  line  of  the  house  of  Stuart  died  in  1807 
a  Cardinal  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 


394  ^/''''  Struggle  for  Empire 

later  several  Highland  regiments  were  raised  by  Pitt,  thus 
absorbing  the  warlike  energies  of  the  clansmen. 

The  Situation  in  India  and  in  America.  —  Outside  of  Eu- 
rope the  treaty  of  1 748  diil  not  secure  even  a  temporary 
cessation  of  war.  In  America  and  in  India  the  contest  for 
supremacy  between  the  English  and  the  French  was  becom- 
ing acute,  and,  although  the  two  nations  were  still  formally  at 
peace,  there  was  fighting  both  on  land  and  on  sea. 

In  India,  Dupleix  continued,  with  splendid  energy,  to 
develop  his  plans  for  the  expulsion  of  the  English  and  the 
establishment  of  a  great  French  empire.  The  East  India 
Company  watched  anxiously  Dupleix's  rapid  advance,  but 
at  first  seemed  powerless  to  check  it.  The  crisis  brought 
forward  Robert  Clive,  a  clerk  in  the  Company's  service,  and 
his  energy  and  skill  saved  English  influence  from  extinction. 
He  collected  a  small  English  and  sepoy  force,  rallied  some 
of  the  native  princes  to  his  side,  and  succeeded  in  inflicting 
several  damaging  defeats  upon  the  French.  This  was  the 
turning-point  in  the  contest.  Dupleix,  who  had  received 
no  support  from  the  home  government,  was  recalled  in  1754, 
and  he  had  no  successor  capable  of  carrying  on  the  work  so 
well  begun.  In  America  the  French  were  more  successful. 
A  determined  effort  on  their  part  to  secure  possession  of  the 
Ohio  valley  aroused  the  fears  of  the  English,  and  in  1755  a 
small  force  of  British  regulars  and  colonials  under  General 
Braddock  tried  to  capture  the  French  stronghold.  Fort 
Duquesne,  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio.  Unfortunately  the  Eng- 
lish leaders  scorned  the  irregular  methods  of  fighting  best 
adapted  to  frontier  warfare,  and  they  suffered  complete  defeat. 
Norwere  other  expeditions  against  the  French  more  successful. 
Outbreak  of  the  Seven  Years'  War.  —  In  England  the 
Green,  715.  years  following  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  were  quiet  and 
716.  uneventful.     Financial  and  commercial  interests  were  still 

Bright,  III,  dominant.  Henry  Pelham  remained  at  the  head  of  the 
government  until  his  death  in  1754,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Many  signs  now 
pointed  to  a  speedy  renewal  of  war.     Austria  was  bent  on 


1018-1022. 


NORTH  AMERICA 

1750 


TriunipJi  of  England  395 

regaining  Silesia,  surrendered  to  Prussia  by  the  treaty  of  Aix- 
la-Ciiapelle,  and  had  drawn  nearer  France,  while  at  the  same 
time  fear  of  French  power  was  bineling  England  and  Prussia 
together.  In  1756  a  long  train  of  negotiations  ended  in  a 
new  combination  of  the  great  European  powers.  England 
and  Prussia  were  now  opposed  to  Austria  and  France. 

The  beginning  of  hostilities  at  once  laid  bare  the  inca- 
pacity of  the  Newcastle  administration.  The  surrender  of 
Minorca  without  a  blow  being  struck  in  its  defence  raised  such 
a  popular  outcry  that  Newcastle  was  forced  to  resign.  Dur- 
ing the  next  few  months  a  struggle  went  on  between  the 
ruling  Whig  houses  supported  by  the  crown  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  opposition  Whigs  led  by  William  Pitt  and 
supported  by  the  nation  on  the  other.  At  last  the  Pitt- 
Newcastle  ministry  was  formed.  Pitt  contributed  genius, 
Newcastle  a  parliamentary  majority. 

William  Pitt.  —  The  "Great  Commoner"  was  one  of  the 
ablest  war  ministers  England  has  ever    had,  and    her  first 
great  popular  minister.     He  came  into  prominence  as  leader 
of  the  Young  Patriots  in  1 742.     His  integrity,  his  eloquence, 
his  statesmanlike  views,  and  the  ardor  of  his  patriotism  had 
won  him  the  devotion  of  his  people.     Disliked  by  the  king 
and  the  politicians,  he  leaned  not  upon  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, but  upon  the  nation,  and  his  appointment  to  the  con-    Green, 
trol  of  affairs  meant  the  triumph  of  popular  will.     At  this   716-725- 
critical  moment  he  was  the  one  man  capable  of  inspiring   Bright,  ill, 
England  with  courage  for  the  contest.     "  I  know  that  I  can    ^°24-io33. 
save  the  nation,  and  that  nobody  else  can,"  he  declared.     A 
new  spirit  at  once  became  apparent  in  the  administration. 
The  army  and   navy  were    reorganized    and  supplies  were 
raised  without  difficulty. 

Triumph    of    England. —  By    1758    the    results  of    Pitt's   source-Book. 
efforts  became  apparent  in  the  successes  of  the  English  in   342-349- 
Canada  and  on  the  sea.     The  French  ports  were  blockaded, 
the  French  possessions  in  India  and  Canada  were  attacked. 
Louisburg  and   Fort  Duquesne    were    taken.      1759  was  a 
year  of  triumphs.     English  supremacy  on  the  sea  was  se- 


396  TJic  Struggle  for  Empire 

cured  by  the  victory  of  Quiberon,  and  with  the  fall  of  Que- 
bec the  northern  colonies  of  France  passed  into  the  control 
of  England. 

The  outbreak  of  the  Seven  Years'  War  was  accompanied 
by  a  renewal  of  the  struggle  in  India.  Now  for  the  first 
time  the  English  came  into  direct  conflict  with  the  native 
rulers.  Acting  under  French  influence,  Surajah  Dowlah, 
navvab  of  Bengal,  attacked  and  captured  the  English  settle- 
ment of  Calcutta  in  1756.  The  English  who  were  taken 
prisoners  were  thrown  into  a  tiny  cell,  the  "  Black  Hole," 
and  kept  there  during  the  fierce  heat  of  an  Indian  summer 
night.  When  morning  came  only  twenty-three  out  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-six  were  alive.  The  English  from  Madras 
took  speedy  revenge.  Calcutta  was  recaptured,  and  in 
June,  1757,  Clive,  with  a  small  force  of  English  and  sepoys, 
defeated  Surajah  Dowlah's  army  at  Plassey.  By  this  victory 
the  English  Company  obtained  supreme  control  over  Ben- 
gal, a  territory  of  some  thirty  million  inhabitants.  Two 
years  later  the  French  were  defeated  at  Wandevvash  by 
Coote,  one  of  Clive's  lieutenants,  and  with  the  surrender  of 
Pondicherry  in  January,  1761,  the  power  of  the  French  in 
India  came  to  an  end. 

The  causes  for  the  defeat  of  France  are  not  far  to  seek. 
The  French  people  showed  little  inclination  to  emigrate,  and 
the  settlements  in  America  were  rather  military  and  trading 
posts  than  true  colonies.  Moreover  England's  control  of  the 
sea  gave  her  the  final  advantage  everywhere.  And,  above  all 
else,  France  was  attempting  too  much.  Not  even  her  splendid 
resources  were  equal  to  the  double  task  of  building  up  a  great 
state  on  the  Continent  and  a  great  empire  abroad. 

Whigs  and  Tories  in  1760. —  In  the  autumn  of  1760 
George  II  died.  The  accession  of  George  III  marks  an 
epoch  in  the  development  of  English  parties.  For  more 
than  forty  years  the  Whigs  had  been  in  control.  Long  ten- 
ure of  power  had  brought  the  usual  results,  corruption  and 
neglect  of  public  interest.  Politics  had  come  to  mean  little 
more  than  a  greedy  scramble  for  office.     The  Whigs  had 


Fall  of  Pitt  397 

done  a  great  work  in  defending  the  national  faith  and  politi- 
cal freedom  against  the  house  of  Stuart.  Under  their  rule 
persecution  had  stopped,  justice  had  been  administered,  the 
supremacy  of  Parliament  had  been  established  ;  but  they 
had  ceased  to  be  a  party  of  progress.  Demands  for  reform 
met  with  no  response ;  the  needs  of  the  country  were  lost 
sight  of  in  the  interests  of  a  few  great  Whig  families. 

Just  at  the  moment  when  the  country  was  growing  weary  The  new 
of  Whig  rule,  the  Tories,  after  years  of  political  insignifi-  Toryism. 
cance,  reappeared,  organized  on  a  new  basis,  inspired  by 
different  principles.  So  long  as  Toryism  meant  Jacobitism, 
its  revival  was  out  of  the  question ;  the  nation  was  too 
strongly  Protestant  and  Hanoverian  to  favor  a  Stuart  restora- 
tion. But  Jacobitism  came  to  an  end  in  1745.  The  writ- 
ings of  Bolingbroke,  the  greatest  of  the  Tory  thinkers, 
furnished  the  basis  of  a  purified,  reorganized  party.  Under 
his  inspiration  the  Tories  were  brought  to  accept  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Revolution,  and  to  support  the  Hanoverian 
rule  while  holding  fast  to  the  idea  of  authority  as  opposed 
to  the  Whig  principle  of  liberty. 

George  III    (1760-1820)  and  the  Government. —  Unlike  Bright,  iii, 
his  predecessors  of  the  house  of  Hanover,  George  HI  was   1035. 1036, 
deeply  attached  to   England  and  gloried  in  being  an   Eng-   Green, 
lishman.     He  was  honest  and  well-meaning  and  anxious  to  728-730- 
do  his  duty,  but  he  was  narrow-minded  and  stubborn,  and  had 
been  badly  educated.     He  had  been  trained  by  his  mother 
in  the  spirit  of  Bolingbroke's  Patriot  King.     His  ideal  was  a 
strong  monarch  governing  by  his  own  will,  but  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  whole  nation.     He  came  to  the  throne  with  a 
carefully  considered  plan  for  overthrowing  the  Whig  clique 
and  ruling  through  ministers  of  his  own  choice.     Parties,  he 
maintained,  were  at  an  end,  and  he  purposed  to  act,  not  as 
a  party  leader,  but  as  the  head  of  the  whole  nation.     In  this 
he  was  likely  to  have  the  support  of  the  people,  to  whom 
party  government  meant   simply   the   domination  of  a  few 
families  ruling  in  their  own  interest. 

Fall  of  Pitt. — The  king  spent  the  first  ten  years  of  his 


398  The  Struggle  for  Empire 

Bright,  III,  reign  in  efforts  to  establish  this  poHcy.  By  the  lavish  use  of 
1037-1041.  money  and  favor  he  succeeded  in  forming  a  party,  known  as 
Green,  the  King's  Friends,  whose  guiding  political  principle  was  to 

730-732-  ^Q|.g  according  to  the  royal  bidding.     The  first  blow  was 

struck  at  the  war  and  Pitt.  Pitt  was  bent  on  destroying 
the  commercial  power  of  France,  and  urged  an  immediate 
attack  upon  Spain,  still  a  great  colonial  power  and  bound  to 
France  by  the  Family  Compact.  The  king  refused  to  sup- 
port this  policy,  and  in  1761  Pitt  resigned.  Newcastle  was 
soon  driven  from  office,  and  in  1762  Lord  Bute,  a  favorite 
of  the  king,  became  chief  minister.  Already,  however,  Eng- 
Warwith  land  had  been  forced  into  war  with  Spain.  The  English 
Spain.  ^gj-p   everywhere   successful,    and   obtained   control  of  the 

French  West  Indies,  and  of  Cuba  and  the  Philippines,  im- 
portant colonial  possessions  of  Spain.  But  Bute  was  bent 
on  ending  the  war  as  soon  as  possible,  and  in  1763  the 
peace  of  Paris  was  concluded.  Although  England  did  not 
obtain  all  that  her  successes  warranted,  her  supremacy  in 
America,  in  India,  and  on  the  sea  was  secured.  On  the 
other  hand,  Frederick  of  Prussia,  England's  ally,  felt  that  his 
interests  had  been  sacrificed,  and  from  this  time  on  he  op- 
posed the  English  on  every  occasion.  A  few  weeks  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  peace  Bute  resigned,  unwilling  to  face  the 
general  dissatisfaction  with  his  administration. 

Divisions  among  the  "Whigs.  —  The  king's  success  in  his 
first  conflict  with  the  Whigs  was  due  to  divisions  in  the 
party.  On  the  one  hand  was  the  main  body  of  the  Whigs 
led  by  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham.  They  inherited  the 
traditions  and  much  of  the  parliamentary  influence  of  the 
great  Revolutionary  families.  Their  sympathies  were  aristo- 
cratic and  they  were  hostile  to  progress.  Opposed  to  the 
official  Whigs  were  Pitt  and  his  following,  popular  in  ten- 
dency and  bent  on  reform.  Other  groups  of  so-called 
Whigs  were  the  followers  of  Grenville  and  of  Bedford. 
They  were  controlled  chiefly  by  personal  interest,  and  had 
none  of  the  popular  sympathies  of  Pitt's  party.  Before  very 
long  many  of  them  passed  over  to  the  Tories. 


TJie  Nezv  Colonial  Policy  399 

The  strength  of  the  opposition  to  Bute  had  shown  the  king  Green,  732, 
that  the  Whigs  were  too  strong  to  be  ignored,  and  during  733- 
the  next  few  years  he  endeavored  to  carry  on  the  govern- 
ment in  cooperation  with  one  or  another  of  the  Whig  fac- 
tions, while  at  the  same  time  striving  to  build  up  his  own 
power.  Two  great  questions  agitated  the  country  during 
this  period,  political  reform  and  the  government  of  the 
American  colonies.  The  Rockingham  Whigs  and  Pitt 
agreed  in  the  main  on  a  conciliatory  policy  toward  America, 
and  if  they  could  have  united  would  have  been  able  to  con- 
trol the  government,  but  Pitt  feared  the  oligarchical  ten- 
dencies of  the  other  faction  and  steadily  held  aloof.  In 
favor  of  a  repressive  policy  at  home  and  in  America  were 
the  king  and  his  following  and  the  Grenville  faction. 

The  Grenville  Ministry.  — When  the  king,  on  the  fall  of 
Bute,  found  himself  forced  to  choose  a  minister  from  the  Bright,  III, 
Whigs,  he  turned  to  Grenville,  who  had  separated  from  the  ^°43-io4 
great  Whig  connection,  and  was  not,  like  Pitt,  disqualified  ^J'^^^"- 
by  popular  and  reforming  tendencies.     Grenville's  ministry 
lasted  two  years,  and  during  that  time  he  succeeded  in  em- 
broihng  Parliament  and  the  nation  in  political  controversies 
and  in  alienating  the  American  colonies.     John  Wilkes,  a 
member  for  Aylesbury,  had  attacked  the  Bute  administra- 
tion in  No.  45  of  the  North  Briton,  a  newspaper  of  which  he 
was  editor.     Arrested  on  a   general  warrant,   he   was  dis- 
charged on    the   ground   of   parhamentary  privilege.     The 
House  of  Commons,  urged  on  by  Grenville  and  the  king, 
voted  No.  45  a  libel,  and  expelled  Wilkes  from  the  House.  Smrce-Book, 
He  became  at  once  a  popular  hero.     The  cries  of  "Wilkes 
and  Liberty  "  which  resounded  through  the  country  testified 
to  the  growing  estrangement  of  Parliament  and  the  people. 

The   New   Colonial   Policy.  —  Grenville's   next  step  was 
to  stir  up  rebellion  in  the  colonies.     By  statesmen  of  the   Green, 
eighteenth  century  a  colony  was  regarded  not  as  an  exten-   738-740. 
sion  of  national  territory  —  an  opportunity  for  national  ex- 
pansion—  but   as   a   piece    of   property,    an    estate   to   be 
exploited  in  the  interest  of  the  country  owning  it.     Spain, 


400  TJie  Struggle  for  Empire 

Portugal,  and  Hollan(i  treated  their  foreign  possessions  as 
mere  sources  of  supply  for  gold  and  silver,  tropical  fruits, 
and  spices.  England's  colonies  produced  none  of  these,  but 
they  might  be  made  a  market  for  home  products,  and  a 
source  of  raw  material  for  the  rising  manufactures  of  the 
mother  country.  "  The  only  use  of  American  colonies  or 
West  Indian  islands,"  said  Lord  Sheffield,  "  is  the  monopoly 
of  their  consumption,  and  the  carriage  of  their  produce." 
In  conformity  with  this  doctrine,  the  English  government 
imposed  restrictions  on  colonial  trade  which  were  calculated 
to  insure  its  profits  to  the  home  country.  All  exports  must 
be  sent  to  England,  and  all  trade  must  be  carried  on  in 
English  or  colonial  vessels.  Colonial  industries  were  dis- 
couraged, the  smelting  of  iron  and  the  exportation  of  woollen 
goods  being  actually  forbidden.  It  is  true  that  many  of 
these  restrictions  were  not  rigorously  enforced,  and  a  few 
became  practically  obsolete  through  disuse.  During  the 
Source-Book,  ministry  of  Walpole  and  Newcastle,  the  Americans  were 
341, 342.  |gf^  ygj-y  i-nuch  to  themselves,  and  had  thriven  under  neglect. 

This  was  England's  gain,  for,  as  Walpole  had  contended, 
the  prosperity  of  the  colonies  meant  increased  demands  for 
English  goods.  But  Grenville  was  unwilling  to  let  well  enough 
alone.  He  resolved  to  suppress  the  smuggling  trade  at 
which  Walpole  had  connived,  and  he  introduced  into  Parlia- 
ment measures  for  taxing  the  colonies  for  the  support  of  an 
army  which  he  proposed  to  maintain  in  America.  There 
was  a  political  side  to  the  new  policy.  The  great  successes  of 
the  late  war  had  stimulated  imperialist  feeling.  People  talked 
in  a  different  tone  about  "  our  colonies,"  and  many  were 
coming  to  feel  that  the  colonials  were  too  independent,  and 
that  they  ought  to  be  held  with  a  tighter  rein. 
The  Stamp  The  Stamp  Act  was  passed  by  Parliament  almost  without 

^^'  ^^  ^'  debate,  but  in  America  it  aroused  the  uncompromising  resist- 
ance of  the  colonists  already  aggrieved  at  the  enforcement  of 
the  commercial  restrictions.  They  believed  that  the  power 
to  tax  could  not  safely  be  entrusted  to  a  Parliament  over 
which  they  had  no  control.    As  for  an  army  they  saw  no  reason 


Chatham 


Ci^U'L^ 


TJic  Rule  of  the  King  and  Lord  North      401 


why  they  should  not  care  for  their  own  defence  as  they  had 
done  for  tlie  most  part  in  the  past. 

The  Rockingham  Ministry.  —  Before  the  conseciuences  of 
the  Stamp  Act  were  reaHzed  in  England,  however,  the  minis- 
try had  fallen.  Its  overthrow  was  due  to  the  king's  personal 
dislike  for  Grenville.  George  was  now  forced  to  fall  back 
on  the  official  Whigs,  and  Lord  Rockingham  became  chief 
minister.  During  the  year  that  Rockingham  was  in  office  he 
strove  to  remedy  the  mistakes  of  his  predecessor.  The  use 
of  general  warrants  was  prohibited,  and  the  Stamp  Act  was 
repealed  (1766). 

Rockingham  had  the  support  of  Edmund  Burke,  the 
greatest  political  writer  of  the  day,  but  he  failed  in  his  efforts 
to  win  over  Pitt,  and  without  Pitt  no  ministry  could  now 
hope  to  stand  for  any  length  of  time.  The  king  preferred 
even  Pitt  to  the  official  Whigs,  and  in  1766  he  dismissed 
Rockingham  and  made  the  Great  Commoner  chief  minister, 
at  the  same  time  creating  him  Earl  of  Chatham. 

The  Chatham-Grafton  Ministry.- — Before  Pitt  could  carry 
out  his  plans,  domestic  and  foreign,  he  became  so  ill  that  he 
was  forced  to  withdraw  from  public  life.  Under  Grafton, 
his  successor,  the  policy  of  the  Rockingham  ministry  was 
reversed.  By  the  Townshend  revenue  duties  the  effort  to 
tax  America  was  renewed  under  another  form,  and  the  gen- 
eral election  of  i  768  brought  up  once  more  the  Wilkes  case. 
Wilkes  was  elected  in  Middlesex.  The  Commons,  urged  by 
the  king,  expelled  him  from  the  House.  Again  and  again 
Middlesex  returned  Wilkes,  and  each  time  the  Commons 
declared  him  incapable  of  sitting  in  Parliament.  A  great 
constitutional  question  was  at  stake,  the  right  of  constituen- 
cies to  choose  their  own  representatives.  But  the  king  had 
at  last  succeeded  in  estabhshing  his  control  of  Parliament, 
and  the  victory  was  his.  In  1770  George  felt  himself 
strong  enough  to  appoint  as  chief  minister  Lord  North,  a 
man  after  his  own  heart. 

The  Rule  of  the  King  and  Lord  North.  —  During  the 
twelve  years  of  the  North  ministry,  George  "  ruled  as  well 

2D 


Bright,  III, 
1050-1053. 

Gieen,  735, 
736. 


Bright,  III, 
1053-1059. 

Townshend 
duties,  1767, 


Middlesex 
Election. 


402  TJie  Struggle  for  Empire 

as  reigned."     The  national  policy  was  the  king's  policy,  the 
ministers   were    his   agents,  Parliament   was    his    tool.     In 
North  he  had  an  able  and  docile  servant,  and  on  his  side 
was  the  new  Toryism  with  its  devotion  to  the  princi[)le  of 
authority.     Bribery  was  carried  to  lengths  unheard  of  hith- 
erto.    Preferment  in  Church  or  State  was  made  the  reward 
of  political  service,  and  loss  of  office  followed  refusal  to  sup- 
Bright,  III,      port  the  royal  policy.     The  king  did  not  disdain  to  make 
1059, 1060.       usg  of  his  direct  personal  influence  to  gain  his  ends.     In  a 
Green,  letter  to  North  he  wrote  in  reference  to  a  recent  vote  in 

739-744-  Parliament,  "  I  wish  a  list  could  be  prepared  of  those  that 

went  away  and  those  that  deserted  to  the  minority.  This 
would  be  a  rule  for  my  conduct  in  the  drawing-room  to-mor- 
row." By  these  means  the  king  commanded  a  steady  ma- 
jority. Royal  authority  was  based  on  a  Parliament  which 
was  bought  and  sold. 

The  American  Question.  —  The  immediate  issue  before 
the  country  was  the  American  difficulty.  The  changing  policy 
of  the  government,  alternately  coercion  and  concession,  had 
naturally  strengthened  the  colonies  in  their  determination  to 
yield  nothing.  On  his  side  the  king  was  eager  to  try  con- 
clusions with  his  rebellious  subjects  across  the  water,  and  in 
this  policy  he  had  the  support  of  the  mass  of  the  English 
people.  Commercial  interests,  Tory  love  of  authority,  the 
spirit  of  imperialism,  were  all  enlisted  against  the  American 
cause. 

Whigs  and  the  Colonies.  —  To  the  Opposition,  however, 
the  struggle  in  America  appeared  in  a  different  light.  Ex- 
clusion from  power  was  transforming  the  Whigs  into  a  party 
of  reform.  Pitt  and  his  following  had  long  called  attention 
to  the  defects  of  the  parliamentary  and  administrative  system. 
Bright,  III,  but  the  great  mass  of  the  Whigs  felt  no  need  of  change  so 
1062-1064.  \ox\^  as  they  were  in  control.  Now,  however,  they  realized 
Source-Book.  ^^  gyjjg  q{  court  influence  when  used  against  themselves. 
Their  early  sympathy  with  America  was  increased  by  the 
conviction  that  in  the  resistance  of  the  colonists  their  own 
interests   were  at    stake ;  triumph  of  the    royal  policy    in 


350-359- 


Progress  of  the  War  403 

America  meant  its  firm  establishment  in  England.  Accord- 
ingly, under  the  vigorous  leadership  of  Chatham,  Burke, 
and  Charles  James  Fox,  they  made  the  cause  of  the  revolted 
colonies  their  own,  at  the  same  time  giving  steady  support  to 
every  demand  for  reform. 

Outbreak  of  the  War  in  America. —  The  American  situation 
grew  steadily  worse.  Virginia  and  Massachusetts,  a  South- 
ern and  a  Northern  colony,  led  in  resisting  the  royal  policy. 
In  1774  a  representative  congress  met  in  Philadelphia.  Brigiit,  iii, 
Henceforth  there  would  be  united  action.  As  yet,  however,  ^°9S.  1^96, 
the  demand  was  simply  for  redress  of  grievances,  but  it  was 
plain  that  fighting  could  not  long  be  deferred.  The  spring  of  *^''*='^'|i- 739- 
1775  saw  the  first  shedding  of  blood  at  Lexington.  Afewweeks 
later  George  Washington,  a  Virginian  gentleman  of  some  mil- 
itary experience,  took  command  of  the  colonial  forces.  The 
American  cause  had  now  a  worthy  leader.  At  the  outset 
England  did  not  take  the  war  very  seriously,  for  she  despised 
the  colonials.  British  officers  declared  in  Parliament  that 
with  one  regiment  they  could  sweep  the  country.  As  late 
as  1774  the  army,  already  small,  was  still  further  reduced. 
The  result  was  that  the  government  was  hard  put  to  raise 
the  needed  troops,  and  sought  recruits  in  various  quarters. 
At  length  a  bargain  was  made  with  German  princes  for  the 
sale  of  their  subjects,  and  some  20,000  Germans,  many  of 
them  criminals,  were  shipped  to  America  to  help  the  king 
subdue  his  own  subjects. 

Progress  of  the  War.  —  Reconciliation  was  no  longer 
possible,  and  in  1776  Congress  issued  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  During  the  next  five  years  the  war  contin- 
ued with  varying  fortune.  England  was  handicapped  by 
her  own  unpreparedness,  by  her  lack  of  good  generals,  and 
by  the  three  thousand  miles  that  lay  between  her  and  her 
rebellious  subjects.  But  on  the  other  hand  the  population 
of  Great  Britain  was  8,000,000,  that  of  the  new  United 
States  less  than  2,000,000,  and  the  disparity  of  resources 
was  even  more  marked.  Moreover,  although  in  England 
tliere  was  an  increasingly  large  party  opposed  to  the  war, 


404  i he  Struggle  foj'  Empire 

in  America  at  lenst  one-third  of  tlie  people  were  steadily 
loyal  to  the  British  connection.  It  was  the  hostility  of 
Europe  that  turned  the  scale  against  the  Elnglish.  They 
were  now  paying  the  price  of  past  success.  Jealousy  of 
England  was  one  of  the  controlling  forces  in  European 
politics  after  the  peace  of  Paris.  The  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  followed  by  offers  of  aid  from  France, 
burning  to  avenge  her  recent  defeat.  In  1777  the  Brit- 
ish under  General  Burgoyne  met  with  disastrous  defeat  at 
Saratoga.  A  few  weeks  later  a  defensive  alliance  was  con- 
cluded between  the  French  and  the  Americans.  By  1780 
Spain  and  Holland  had  also  declared  war,  and,  under  the 
leadership  of  Catherine  of  Russia  the  northern  nations  had 
banded  together  in  an  armed  neutrality  to  resist  the 
commercial  claims  of  the  English.  Great  Britain's  isola- 
tion in   Europe  was  complete. 

Failure  of  the  Royal  Policy.  —  For  a  time  the  Whigs 
Bright,  III,  could  make  but  little  headway  against  the  general  approval 
1082, 1083,  Q^  ^|-jg  ^y^j.  ^^^^  |.j-jg  apathy  of  the  masses.  But  fiiilure  in 
1091, 1092. 

America  and  the   heavy  burden    of  taxation  changed  the_ 

current  of  feeling.  Moreover,  the  resistance  of  the  colo- 
nists had  not  been  without  effect  in  arousing  Englishmen 
to  the  evils  of  their  own  system  of  government.  By  1779 
the  reform  movement  had  assumed  formidable  dimen- 
sions. Great  meetings  were  held  throughout  the  country 
with  the  intention  of  bringing  public  opinion  to  bear  on 
Parliament.  Petitions  demanding  reform  in  the  govern- 
ment and  signed  by  thousands  were  presented  in  the 
House.  In  1780  Burke  introduced  a  great  measure  for 
economic  reform  of  the  administration,  which  was  followed 
by  bills  to  deprive  revenue  officers  of  their  votes  and  to 
exclude  contractors  from  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
Duke  of  Richmond  brought  in  a  motion  for  parliamentary 
Dunning's  reform,  demanding  annual  Parliaments,  universal  suffrage, 
resolution.  ^^^^  equal  electoral  districts.  Finally  a  startling  resolution 
Source-Book,  introduced  by  Dunning  to  the  effect  "  that  the  influence 
of  the  crown  was  increased,  is  increasing,  and  ought  to  be 


308-313. 


TJie  Coalition  405 

diminished,"   was    carried   against   the    government   by   a 
majority  of  eighteen. 

In  America  matters  grew  steadily  worse.     The  surrender   Bright,  ill, 
of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  in  1781,  dealt  a  fatal  blow  to  the   "03-1107. 
royal  policy.     Under  the  combined  pressure  of  defeat  in  Green, 
America   and  demand  for   reform  at   home,  the    king   was 
forced  to  give  way.     Lord  North  resigned  (1782)  and  the 
Whigs  returned  to  power  under  Rockingham.     Government 
by  agents  of  the    king  came  to  an  end,  and  the  cabinet 
system  was  reestablished. 

The  Whigs  in  Power.  —  The  Whigs,  first  under  Rocking- 
ham, and  after  his  death  under  Lord  Shelburne,  carried 
through  some  important  measures.  They  granted  Ireland's 
demand  for  legislative  independence,  and  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Burke  secured  some  of  the  economic  reforms 
brought  forward  during  the  North  administration.  Govern- 
ment contractors  were  excluded  from  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, revenue  officers  were  disfranchised,  and  the  secret 
service  money  and  pension  list  were  cut  down.  The  min- 
istry refused,  however,  to  take  up  the  question  of  parlia- 
mentary reform.  The  object  of  the  Whigs  was  in  fact 
rather  to  limit  the  power  of  the  crown  than  to  make  Par- 
liament more  truly  representative  of  the  nation. 

The  chief  work  of  the  Shelburne  ministry  was  to  conclude  Treaty  of 
the  peace  negotiations  with  America,  By  the  treaty  of  Ver-  Versailles. 
sailles  (1783),  that  closed  the  war,  England  was  forced  to 
recognize  the  independence  of  the  American  colonies.  To 
Spain  she  gave  back  Minorca  and  Florida,  to  France  most 
of  her  settlements  and  colonies  in  India  and  Africa  and  the 
West  Indies.  The  failure  of  the  French  and  Spanish  to 
capture  Gibraltar  and  the  destruction  of  the  French  fleet 
by  Rodney  off  Dominica  were  all  that  saved  her  colonial 
empire  from  annihilation.  Friends  and  foes  alike  believed 
with  Lord  Shelburne  that  England's  sun  had  set. 

The  Coalition.  —  In  1783  the  Shelburne  ministry  was 
overthrown  by  an  astonishing  combination  of  Lord  North  with 
Fox,  the  leader  of  the  progressive  wing  of  the  Whigs.     In 


4o6  The  Struggle  for  Empire 

spite  of  its  great  parliamentary  strength,  this  coalition  ministry 
lasted  only  a  few  months.  Popular  indignation  was  aroused 
Bright,  111.  at  an  alliance  formed  apparently  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
III2, 1113,  securing  power.  The  India  Bill  proposed  by  Fox  for  the 
1(29-1134.  reform  of  the  East  Indian  government  aroused  much  dis- 
satisfaction. The  king,  always  hostile  to  Fox,  and  now 
alienated  from  North,  led  the  attack  upon  the  coalition,  and, 
regardless  of  the  fact  that  it  had  the  support  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  turned  it  out  and  called  upon  William  Pitt,  a  son 
of  the  Great  Commoner,  to  form  a  new  ministry.  A  tremen- 
dous struggle  ensued.  It  was  the  king,  Pitt,  and  the  nation 
against  the  coalition  and  Parliament.  On  one  vote  after  an- 
other Pitt  was  defeated,  but  he  maintained  his  place,  declar- 
ing with  truth  that  Parliament  did  not  represent  the  nation. 
In  March,  1784,  the  contest  ended  in  the  triumph  of  Pitt, 
Factious  dissensions  and  indifference  to  reform  had  weak- 
ened the  Whig  party,  the  coalition  ruined  it.  Save  for  a 
short  time  in  1806  the  Whigs  remained  out  of  power  until 
1830. 

The   Early    Years    of    Pitt's    Ministry.  —  William    Pitt 

was  barely  twenty-five  when  he  was  called  to  take  charge  of 

Bright.  Ill,      the  government,  but  he  had  already  made  his  mark  in  the 

1134-1139-       country.     He  had  none  of  the  fiery  eloquence  of  his  father. 

Green.  ^ut   his   tact   and    sagacity   were   unerring.     Although   his 

753-7 :>  ■  triumph  was  due  to  the  support  of  the  king,  this  did  not 

imply  a  return  to  the  system  that  had  prevailed  during  the 

North  ministry.     So  long  as  Pitt  remained   in   power,  the 

conduct  of  the  affairs  was  under  his  control.     He  was  truly 

Prime  Minister,  with  absolute  authority  over  a  united  Cabinet. 

The  king  might  chafe  at  his  lack  of  power,  but  he  knew  his 

choice  lay  between  Pitt  and  the  Whig  leaders,  and  he  gave 

undivided  support  to  Pitt. 

The  young  minister  had  entered  public  life  a  Whig,  his 
tendencies  were  liberal,  and  he  should  have  received  the 
support  of  the  progressive  Whigs.  Lacking  this,  he  leaned 
more  and  more  upon  the  new  Tory  party.  Insensibly,  his 
views  were  modified  by  his  relations  with  the  king  and  by 


INDIA,  SHOWING  KOIOHLY  THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  BRITISH  POWER 

Ki.--lnlil'.w-c'»i„iia     _       I  ■  Uuilcr  English  Prolc'clion^^J.l.'.J 


1784'"'  '^^-'f\ 


1834 "'  ^^''PS 


BORMAY  &  CO.,ENeR'S,N.Vj, 


Groivtli  of  the  Indian  Dominion  407 

his  party  associations.  He  still  supported  reform,  and  in 
1785  proposed  a  reform  bill,  but  the  measure  was  not 
thoroughgoing,  since  it  recognized  the  right  of  property  in  a 
seat  in  the  House  of  Commons.  It  was  defeated,  for  the 
demand  for  reform  was  subsiding,  there  was  little  popular 
interest  in  the  movement,  and  the  Whigs  were  too  divided 
and  too  badly  led  to  seize  upon  the  only  chance  of  revival, 
reorganization  as  a  reform  party. 

Pitt's  especial  ability  lay  in  finance.  He  struck  at  smug- 
gUng  by  lowering  the  customs.  The  falling  off  in  reve-  Financial 
nue  he  made  good  through  an  excise.  Careful  manage-  reform, 
ment  turned  the  deficit  into  a  surplus  which  was  applied  to 
paying  off  the  national  debt.  In  1786  Pitt  won  a  great 
triumph  over  the  commercial  theories  and  national  prejudices 
of  his  generation  by  carrying  through  a  commercial  treaty 
with  France  which  practically  established  free  trade  between 
the  two  countries.  He  also  attempted,  although  without 
success,  to  give  to  Ireland  the  commercial  freedom  which 
Irish  industries  so  much  needed. 

Growth     of     the   Indian    Dominion. — After     1760     the 

power  of  the  English  in  India  grew  rapidly  at  the  expense  Bright,  II 
^  ,-  1       1      J        1120-1123 

of  the  native  princes.     There  were  frequent  outbreaks,  due 

partly  to  the  aggressions  of  the  English  Company,  and  partly 
to  the  continued  intrigues  of  the  French.  England's  wars 
in  Europe  and  America  had  their  invariable  accompaniment 
of  conflict  in  the  East.  In  India  the  English  were  almost 
uniformly  successful.  In  their  dealings  with  the  natives  they 
were  skilful  and  often  unscrupulous,  and  they  had  the  sup- 
port of  a  large  sepoy  force  created  in  imitation  of  the  policy 
of  Dupleix.  In  1765  the  Company  formally  took  over  the 
government  of  Bengal,  thus  becoming  in  name  as  well  as  in 
fact  princes  of  India. 

Step  by  step  the  English  advanced  until,  at  the  close  of 
the  Mahratta  war  in  1805,  the  Company  controlled,  directly 
or  indirectly,  a  large  part  of  the  Indian  peninsula  and 
immense  provinces  in  the  interior.  The  movement,  which 
began  in   1748  with  the  creation  of  a  small  sepoy  force  to 


4o8  The  Struggle  for  Empire 

protect  the  trading  interests  of  the  East  India  Company, 
had  resulted  in  the  estabhshment  of  a  great  empire. 

Control  by  Parliament. — Aheady,  however,  many  im- 
portant changes  in  the  relations  of  India  and  England  had 
taken  place.  The  anomaly  of  a  trading  company  exercising 
sovereign  rights  over  extensive  territories  and  milUons  of 
people  could  not  fail  to  excite  attention.  Serious  misman- 
agement of  the  company's  affairs  gave  Parliament  a  chance 
to  interfere.  Upon  the  report  of  an  investigating  committee, 
Lord  North  formed  the  Regulating  Act  of  1773.  The  Com- 
pany received  a  loan  for  which  it  had  applied,  and  in  ad- 
dition the  concession  of  exporting  its  bonded  tea  to 
America  without  paying  duty.  On  the  other  hand,  parlia- 
mentary control  was  increased  by  the  appointment  by 
Parliament  of  a  council  and  governor-general  to  carry  on 
the  government  of  India. 

Still  the  old  evils  continued.     The  Company  cared   for 

dividends  and  was  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  the  subject 

people.     Officials  were  poorly  paid,  and  sought  to  enrich 

Green,  745-      themselves  by  plundering  the  natives.     Warren    Hastings, 

748.  752,  753.    the  first  governor-general,  was  able  and  energetic,  and  he 

did  much  to  strengthen  the  foundations  of  English  control, 

but  his   methods  were  sometimes  unscrupulous.     In  1784 

Pitt  carried  a  bill  establishing  a  dual  system  of  control  over 

Pitt's  India       India.     All  business  and  all  patronage,  with  a  few  important 

exceptions,  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Company  and  the 

government  was  still  in  its  name,  but  the  whole  political 

authority  was  transferred  to  a  new  ministerial  department, 

the  Board  of  Control. 

The  Impeachment  of  Hastings.  —  In  1785  Warren  Hast- 
ings returned  to  England,  and  was  at  once  attacked  in 
Parliament  and  impeached  for  acts  of  tyranny  committed  in 
India.  His  trial,  made  famous  through  the  eloquence  of 
Burke  and  Sheridan,  dragged  on  until  1795,  and  in  the  end 
Hastings  was  acquitted,  but  his  policy  as  well  as  his  methods 
had  already  been  superseded.  The  government's  interfer- 
ence in  Indian  affairs  and  the  calling  of  Hastings  to  account 


TJic  FrcncJi  Revolution  and  Political  Reaction     409 

testify  to  a  growing  sense  of  responsibility  for  the  welfare  of 
the  subject  population  in  India.  In  1786  Lord  Cornwallis 
was  sent  out  as  governor-general.  He  remained  in  power 
until  1798,  and  through  his  efforts  the  administration  was 
thoroughly  reformed. 

The  New  Colonial  Policy.  —  After  the  loss  of  the  American 
colonies  there  remained  to  England,  besides  the  Indian 
dependency,  only  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia,  some  of  the 
West  Indies,  Gibraltar,  and  a  few  places  off  the  coast  of 
Africa.  Almost  at  once,  however,  she  began  to  build  up  a 
new  empire  by  planting  penal  settlements  on  the  south- 
eastern coast  of  Australia,  a  continent  as  yet  unclaimed  by 
any  European  power.  Out  of  these  untoward  beginnings 
developed  in  the  next  century  a  progressive  Anglo-Saxon 
commonwealth. 

The  chief  lesson  that  England  drew  from  the  American 
Revolution  was  that  too  much  political  independence  ought 
not  to  be  granted  to  colonies,  and  for  the  next  generation  a 
tight  hand  was  kept  on  the  colonial  governments.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  commercial  restrictions  were  gradually 
relaxed.     Nor  was  the  attempt  to  tax  ever  repeated. 

The  French  Revolution  and  Political  Reaction.  —  All  things 
pointed  to  a  period  of  cautious  reform,  when,  in   1789,  the    Green, 
country  was  startled  by  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolu-   758-770. 
tion.     Public  opinion  was  at  first   divided.     To  the  timid   Bright,  in, 
and  conservative,  the  rising  of  the  French  people  meant  the   ii6o-i"62.' 
complete  overthrow  of  the  established  order,  the  beginning 
of  anarchy ;  but  by  many  progressive   Englishmen  it  was 
hailed  with    enthusiasm.     The    excesses   of  the    Reign  of 
Terror   determined   the    current   of  popular  feeling.     The 
hostility  of  the  French  was  directed  against  the  crown  and 
the  privileged  classes.     In  England,  as  a  result,  the  Tories, 
the  party  of  authority,  the  king's  party,  became  the  cham- 
pions of  vested  interests.     The  clergy,  the  aristocracy,  the 
wealthy  middle  classes  rallied  round  the  king  in  defence  of 
privilege  and  property.     Burke,  once  the  advocate  of  politi- 
cal progress,  became  now  the  mouthpiece  of  reaction.     His 


4 1  o  The  Struggle  for  Ejiipire 

Burke  and  Reflections  on  tlie  French  Revolution  was  the  manifesto  of 

the  Revo-  ^  crusadc   against   democracy.     The  propagandist   attitude 

" "°"'  of  the    French    revoUitionists  aroused  a  panic  of  alarm  in 

Source-Book,  g,    j.^^^j  which   Pitt  Strove  in  vain  to  stem.     At  last  he  gave 

303-370.  O  o 

way  before  the  demand  of  the  king  and  the  nation  for  war, 
and  joined  hands  with  the  monarchs  of  I'^urope  in  an  attack 
upon  the  French  Republic. 
Bright,  III,  The  French  Revolution  and  the  war  that  followed  dealt 

1177-U81.  ^j^^  cause  of  progress  a  fatal  blow.  Pitt  turned  his  back 
forever  on  his  plans  for  financial  and  political  reform. 
Henceforth  all  his  energies  were  absorbed  in  the  conflict 
with  France.  In  the  outset  the  war  was  a  crusade  against 
democratic  opinion,  and  it  meant  the  establishment  of  Tory 
ascendency.  Reactionary  views  and  arbitrary  methods  pre- 
vailed in  the  government.  Wild  fears  of  a  revolutionary 
rising  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  policy  of  repression.  The 
Habeas  Corpus  Act  was  suspended  from  1794  to  1801,  new 
treasons  were  created,  the  liberty  of  public  meeting  was  re- 
stricted, numerous  prosecutions  of  the  press  were  instituted, 
and  men  were  found  guilty  of  sedition  and  harshly  punished 
for  advocating  measures  which  Pitt  had  himself  proposed  a 
few  years  before.  A  poor  bill-sticker  was  imprisoned  for 
six  months  for  posting  up  an  address  asking  for  parliamen- 
tary reform,  and  a  clergyman,  named  Palmer,  was  sentenced 
to  seven  years'  transportation  for  circulating  a  paper  in 
favor  of  the  same  measure. 

Break-up  of  the  Whig  Party.  —  In  this  repressive  policy, 
the  government  had  the  steady  support  of  Parliament  and 
the  country.  Fear  of  revolution  had  brought  about  a  revul- 
sion of  feeling.  In  i  794  the  great  bulk  of  the  Whigs  went 
over  to  Pitt.  The  Opposition,  led  by  Fox,  dwindled  to  a 
mere  handful,  too  weak  to  impose  any  check  upon  the 
arbitrary  policy  of  the  government.  It  became,  however, 
what  it  had  never  been  before,  a  party  of  popular  reform. 
In  1792,  in  1793,  and  again  in  1797,  motions  for  the  reform 
of  Parliament  were  introduced  by  Grey.  They  could 
scarcely  obtain  a  hearing,  and  were   thrown  out  by  large 


CBUAY  u  CC.  tUtiB'S,  I 


TJic  War  ivith  France 


411 


majorities.  The  prospect  of  reform,  so  bright  in  1 780,  seemed, 
twenty  years  later,  hopelessly  deferred.  More  than  a  century 
had  elapsed  since  the  overthrow  of  the  Stuart  despotism, 
but  England  had  apparently  made  no  advance  toward  popu- 
lar government.  In  reality  much  had  been  gained.  In  the 
organization  of  political  parties  and  in  the  development  of 
the  Cabinet,  governmental  forms  had  been  established  well 
fitted  to  give  effect  to  the  will  of  the  people,  and  to  make 
democracy  possible. 

The  War  with  France.  — The  war  lasted  from  1793  to  Green, 
1802.  In  the  beginning  Spain,  Holland,  Austria,  and  Prussia  7^7^77^' 
were  united  with  England  against  France.  Notwithstanding 
these  odds,  the  French  not  only  repelled  invasion,  but 
carried  the  war  across  the  border  into  the  enemy's  coun- 
try. The  Republican  armies,  fired  with  zeal  and  patriotism 
and  led  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  the  greatest  military  genius  Bonaparte, 
of  the  age,  were  irresistible.  On  land  England  accomplished 
nothing.  Her  armies  were  badly  made  up  and  badly  led, 
and  the  subsidies  which  she  lavished  on  the  petty  German 
states  brought  little  return.  On  the  seas,  however,  the 
English  were  almost  uniformly  successfiil.  English  suprem- 
acy in  the  Mediterranean  was  soon  established,  the  French 
Atlantic  fleet  was  defeated  by  Lord  Howe,  and  the  French 
settlements  in  India  and  some  of  the  West  Indian  islands 
passed  into  the  possession  of  England. 

In  1795  the  coalition  began  to  give  way  before  the  victo- 
ries of  the  French.  Most  of  the  continental  states  con- 
cluded treaties  with  the  Republic.  England,  however,  still 
continued  on  the  offensive.  For  a  time  (in  the  year  1797) 
her  situation  seemed  desperate.  She  stood  alone,  threat- 
ened with  invasion  from  France,  menaced  with  rebellion  in 
Ireland,  the  fleet  paralyzed  by  a  widespread  mutiny.  But 
the  crisis  was  met  with  determination  and  success.  The 
attempted  invasion  ended  in  failure,  and  before  the  year 
was  out,  by  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  and  Dutch  fleets, 
in  the  battles  of  Cape  Vincent  and  Camperdown,  England 
had  lessened  the  danger  of  attack.    The  interest  of  the  next 


412 


The  Struggle  for  Empire 


Battle  ot 

the  Nile. 


The  Second 
Coalition. 


Oman, 
England  in 
the  Nine- 
teenth Cen- 
tury, Ch.  I. 


Green, 

pp.  772-776, 
777-779. 


year  centred  in  Egypt,  whither  Bonaparte  had  gone  in  the 
belief  that  the  occupation  of  Egypt  would  open  the  way  to 
the  restoration  of  the  French  domination  in  India.  Nelson's 
victory  at  the  battle  of  the  Nile  (179S),  by  severing  the  con- 
nection between  France  and  the  French  forces  in  Egypt, 
placed  insuperable  difificulties  in  the  way  of  this  scheme, 
and  in  1799  it  was  abandoned. 

On  land,  however,  Bonaparte,  now  at  the  head  of  the 
French  government,  swept  all  before  him.  A  second  coali- 
tion with  Austria  and  Russia,  laboriously  built  up  by  Pitt  in 
1799,  fell  to  pieces  within  the  year.  Austria  maintained 
the  struggle  until  i8oi,when  she  was  forced  to  sign  the 
treaty  of  Luneville,  which  left  France  supreme  on  the  Con- 
tinent. In  the  East  and  on  the  sea,  England's  success  was 
still  unbroken.  Southern  India  fell  before  Wellesley,  the 
French  were  defeated  at  Alexandria,  and  Nelson's  victory  at 
Copenhagen  (1801)  dealt  a  fatal  blow  to  the  alliance  of 
Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Russia  which  had  threatened  Eng- 
land's commercial  supremacy.  But  England  needed  peace, 
she  stood  alone  in  Europe,  her  debt  was  enormous,  taxation 
was  heavy.  Bonaparte  was  ready  to  come  to  terms,  and  in 
1802  the  peace  of  Amiens  was  concluded.  "  It  was  a 
peace,"  so  Sheridan  of  the  Opposition  declared,  "  which 
everybody  would  be  glad  of,  but  which  nobody  would  be 
proud  of.  "  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  England  gave  back 
all  her  conquests  except  Ceylon  and  Trinidad,  the  peace 
was  greeted  with  joy  throughout  the  country. 

The  Union  of  England  and  Ireland. —  Before  the  negotia- 
tions for  the  peace  of  Amiens  were  begun,  Pitt  had  with- 
drawn from  the  ministry  because  of  the  king's  refusal  to 
agree  to  the  emancipation  of  the  Irish  Catholics. 

The  surrender  of  Limerick  in  1691  (p.  365)  was  followed 
by  the  establishment  of  Protestant  ascendency  in  Ireland. 
Many  of  the  Catholic  leaders  went  into  exile  or  were  ruined 
by  confiscations,  and  the  bulk  of  the  army  entered  foreign 
service.  The  fate  of  the  Catholic  people,  three-fourths  of  the 
population  of  Ireland,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Irish  Parlia- 


TJie  Union  of  England  and  Iirland         413 


ment,  which  represented  simply  the  small  intolerant  Protes- 
tant minority.  In  spite  of  the  pledges  of  Limerick,  crushing 
penal  laws  were  enacted  against  the  Catholics.  Their  worship 
was  practically  proscribed,  they  were  disfranchised,  they  were 
excluded  from  the  professions,  from  Parliament,  from  munici- 
pal office.  The  law  thrust  itself  between  a  Catholic  father 
and  his  children,  a  Catholic's  right  to  hold  land  was  restricted, 
he  was  forbidden  to  own  a  horse  worth  more  than  ^5. 

The  Irish  Parliament  made  the  position  of  the  Catholics 
almost  intolerable,  the  English  Parliament  spared  neither 
Catholic  nor  Protestant.  The  Cromwellian  Settlement  had 
added  a  vigorous  and  intelligent  element  to  the  popula- 
tion, and  after  the  Restoration  there  was  a  beginning  of 
prosperity  in  Ireland.  The  land  was  chiefly  pasture,  and  the 
importation  of  cattle  into  England  became  an  important 
source  of  wealth  ;  but  the  English  landowners  took  alarm, 
and  laws  were  passed  excluding  from  England  Irish  cattle 
and  sheep,  meat  and  butter  and  cheese.  Ireland  had 
certain  commercial  advantages  in  her  good  harbors  and 
proximity  to  America,  but  as  soon  as  she  showed  signs  of 
turning  these  to  profit  she  was  cut  off  almost  entirely  from 
the  colonial  trade.  As  Swift  said,  Ireland's  fine  ports  were 
of  no  more  use  to  her  than  "  a  beautiful  prospect  to  a  man 
shut  up  in  a  dungeon."  Forbidden  to  send  their  sheep  to 
England,  the  Irish  landowners  turned  to  wool-growing,  and 
the  woollen  manufacture  began  to  develop;  but  in  1699 
English  manufacturers,  fearing  the  rivalry  of  Ireland,  induced 
Parliament  to  pass  a  law  prohibiting  the  export  of  Irish 
woollens  to  any  country  whatever.  The  subordination  of 
Irish  to  English  interests  was  complete.  Cut  off  in  every 
direction,  industry  died  out,  and  the  energies  of  the  Irish 
people  were  thrown  back  upon  the  land. 

Crushed  and  strangled,  for  over  fifty  years  Ireland  did  not 
stir,  but  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  move- 
ment for  legislative  independence  began  among  the  Protes- 
tants. During  the  American  Revolution,  it  gained  such 
strength  that  under  the  Rockingham  ministry  of  1782  the 


Laws  against 
the  Catholics. 


Destruction 
of  Irish 
industries. 


Bright,  III, 
1090,  1 105, 
1106,  1136, 
1199-1219, 
1229. 


laiive 
pendence 


414  The  Struggle  for  Etnpire 

Irish  legis-  independence  of  the  Irish  Parhament  was  secured.  The 
"'^*^'  result  was  disappointing,  in  part  because  Pitt  failed  in  his 
attempt  to  establish  complete  free  trade  between  England 
and  Ireland,  and  in  part  because  the  Irish  Parliament  was 
still  the  Parliament  of  the  Protestant  minority.  Although 
some  relief  had  been  given  to  the  Catholics,  there  were  but 
few  Protestants  as  yet  who  agreed  witli  Grattan  in  thinking 
that  "  the  Irish  Protestant  could  never  be  free  till  the  Irish 
Cathohc  had  ceased  to  be  a  slave."  The  general  discontent 
found  expression  in  formidable  organizations.  In  1798  an 
insurrection  broke  out  among  the  peasants  of  Wexford  and 
other  places.  Twice  the  French  took  advantage  of  the  pre- 
vailing disorder,  and  attempted  an  invasion  of  Ireland.  At 
last  Pitt  was  convinced  that  the  safety  of  England  required 
that  the  two  countries  should  be  united,  and  in  1800  the  Act 
of  Union  was  carried  through,  although  opposed,  in  the  words 
of  Lecky,  by  the  "  whole  unbribed  intellect  of  Ireland." 
Act  of  Union,  Free  trade  with  England  and  representation  in  the  British 
1800.  Parliament  were  secured  to  the  Irish.     An  essential  part  of 

the  plan  was  frustrated,  however,  by  the  king's  refusal  to 
grant  the  relief  to  the  Catholics  that  Pitt  had  given  them  to 
understand  would  follow  union. 

Napoleonic  Wars.  —  The  war  with  France  was  renewed 
within  thirteen  months  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of 
Amiens.  The  grounds  of  contention  were  changed.  Hence- 
forth England  fought,  not  to  restore  the  deposed  Bourbons, 
but  to  check  the  aggressions  of  an  upstart  prince.  Napoleon 
Ch.  11'.  Bonaparte,  who  had  negotiated  the  peace  of  1802  as  chief 

of  the  French  Republic,  was  elected  consul  for  life  in  1802, 
and  emperor  in  1804.  Europe  watched  his  advancement 
with  apprehension.  There  was  reason  to  believe  that  his 
ambition  was  not  limited  to  France,  that  he  aimed  to  found 
an  empire  comparable  to  that  of  Charlemagne.  Certain 
Bright,  III,  high-handed  dealings  with  the  Swiss  and  Italian  states 
1237-1241.  menaced  the  balance  of  power  and  gave  umbrage  to  the 
courts  of  Europe.  England  was  affronted  by  Napoleon's 
pretensions  to  Malta,  her  recent  acquisition  in  the  Mediter- 


Green, 
819-82: 

Oman, 


TJic  Continental  System  415 

ranean,  and  by  his  demand  that  the  fugitive  Bourbons  be 
denied  asylum  under  the  British  flag.  Addington  under- 
took to  negotiate  with  the  overbearing  conqueror,  but  was 
forced  by  the  rising  wrath  of  the  nation  to  declare  war 
(1803).  The  emperor  caught  up  the  gauntlet  with  eager- 
ness and  prepared  for  a  decisive  struggle  with  the  hereditary 
foe  of  France.  A  great  army  was  gathered  at  Boulogne, 
thousands  of  transports  were  provided,  and  everything  made 
ready  for  a  swift  descent  on  England.  "  The  Channel  is 
but  a  ditch,"  said  he;  "any  one  can  cross  it  who  has  but 
courage  to  try."  He  had  not  learned  the  lesson  of  history. 
For  two  years  he  watched  his  chance  for  the  crossing,  but 
the  water  bulwarks  of  the  island  kingdom  proved  an  insu- 
perable obstacle. 

No  such  peril  had  threatened  England  since  the  Armada, 
and  the  best  energies  of  the  nation  were  rallied  to  the  de- 
fence. The  enlistment  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
volunteers  brought  the  military  defence  of  the  kingdom  up 
to  a  figure  never  before  or  since  attained.  Watch  towers 
were  built  along  the  southern  coast,  and  a  formidable  fleet 
guarded  the  Channel.  Napoleon  had  given  orders  to  the 
French  admiral  to  decoy  Nelson's  squadron  to  the  West 
Indies,  and  then  swiftly  return  to  protect  the  vessels  engaged 
in  transporting  the  army  of  invasion,  but  Nelson  was  not  so 
easily  outwitted.  He  recrossed  the  Atlantic  in  advance  of 
the  French  fleet,  and  in  time  to  prevent  the  embarkation.  Trafalgar, 
In  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  (1805)  the  navy  of  France  was  ^2°5- 
cut  to  pieces,  and  Napoleon  was  obliged  to  abandon  his 
cherished  purpose  of  subjugating  England. 

The  Continental  System.  —  Foiled  in  this  enterprise,  the 
emperor  hit  upon  a  new   device   for   destroying  his   great   Brisrht,  ill, 
antagonist.     He   had,  by  1806,  succeeded   in  reducing  the   12^7-1253, 
principal  European  states  to  the  position  of  dependents  or   12601265. 
servile  allies,  and  the  coast  of  the  Continent  from  the  Baltic   Oman, 
to  the  Adriatic  was  under  his  control.     He  thus  had  it  in  Ch.  ill. 
his  power  to  regulate  the  commercial  relations  of  all  impor-   Berin 
tant  European  ports.     The  Berhn  Decree,  issued   in   1806,   Decree,  1806. 


41 6  The  Struggle  for  Empire 

forbade  the  subjects  of  France  or  of  any  allied  power  to 
trade  with  England  or  with  England's  colonies.  Thus 
British  vessels  were  excluded  from  all  the  harbors  of  Europe 
except  those  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Sweden,  Portugal,  and 
Bright,  III,     Turkey.     The  blow  was  cunningly  aimed  at  the  very  source 

1277. 1278.  Qf  England's  strength.  Her  merchants  had  secured  the 
major  part  of  the  carrying  trade  between  Europe,  America, 
and  the  Orient.  Her  manufacturers  were  making  goods  in 
excess  of  domestic  demand,  and  relied  upon  the  European 
market  to  absorb  the  surplus.  The  wealth  producers  of  the 
realm  were  threatened  with  ruin. 

Bright  III  '^^^  Orders  in  Council.  —  England  had  no  recourse  but 

1278. 1279.  retaliation.  The  Order  in  Council,  issued  in  1807,  forbade 
all  trade  with  France  or  her  subject-allies.  Vessels,  neutral 
or  otherwise,  entering  the  blockaded  ports,  did  so  at  the  risk 
of  capture  and  confiscation.  This  was  no  empty  threat,  for 
English  battleships  guarded  every  important  coast  town, 
lying  in  wait  for  prizes.  In  the  end  the  Continental  System 
worked  more  harm  to  Napoleon  than  to  England.  British 
merchant  vessels  ran  no  risk  of  seizure,  and  found  profitable 
employment  in  smuggling  goods  into  the  forbidden  markets. 
The  contraband  imports  sold  at  trebled  prices.  This  was  a 
heavy  tax  to  pay  for  the  imperial  regime,  and  men  protested 
against  the  meaningless  sacrifice.  The  Continental  System 
had  much  to  do  with  the  final  revolt  against  Napoleon. 

The  Peninsular  War  (1808-1814). —  When,  at  last,  Eng- 
land came  face  to  face  with  her  great  antagonist,  it  was 
not  on  English  nor  yet  on  French  soil,  but  in  Spain. 
The  revolt  of  the  Spanish  people  against  the  Bonaparte 
king  imposed  upon  them  by  Napoleon,  gave  England  the 
long-sought  opportunity  to  get  a  foothold  on  the  Continent. 
Men  and  money  were  poured  into  the  Peninsula,  and  for  six 
years  an  English  army  under  Wellington  fought  for  the 
independence  of  Spain.  The  emperor  recognized  that  the 
situation  was  critical,  and  devoted  the  best  of  his  troops  to 
the  reconquest  of  the  country,  but  to  no  avail.  The  French 
were  expelled  from   Madrid  (181 2),  and  forced  to  retreat 


America7i  War 


417 


northward,    losing   fortress   after   fortress,   until   they   were 
driven  beyond  the  Pyrenees.     In  the  spring  of  18 14,  Well-   Bright,  ill, 
ington's  army  appeared  in  southern  France,  ready  to  join   1287-1321. 
the  forces  sent  by  Russia,  Prussia,  and  Austria  for  the  last 
bout  with  Napoleon.     In  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  which  com- 
pleted the  ruin  of  the  emperor,  Wellington  and  the  veterans  Waterloo, 
of  the  Peninsular  War  bore  a  leading  part. 

Results  of  the  Napoleonic  Wars.  —  Territorially  Eng- 
land gained  little  from  this  long  and  costly  war,  but  her 
acquisitions  were  such  as  to  be  of  great  advantage  to  com- 
merce. Malta  and  the  Ionian  Islands  were  strategic  points 
in    the   Mediterranean.      Mauritius     gave    a   new   coaling 


1815. 

Source-Book, 
375-379- 


Station  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  while  the  Dutch  setdements 
at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  West  Guiana  made  impor- 
tant additions  to  the  list  of  English  colonies. 

Far  more  notable  than  these  territorial  winnings  was  the 
maritime  ascendency  attained  by  England's  navy  and  the 
advance  in  political  prestige  due  to  the  important  services 
rendered  by  her  generals  and  diplomatists.  The  great  fleet 
of  France  and  Spain  had  been  destroyed  at  Trafalgar,  and 
there  was  no  other  in  Europe  that  dared  to  dispute  British 
supremacy.  English  merchantmen  enjoyed  an  unquestioned 
monopoly  of  European  trade.  Their  only  rivals,  the  Amer- 
ican ship-masters,  had  been  well-nigh  ruined  by  the  com- 
mercial legislation  arising  out  of  the  Napoleonic  wars. 

American  War  (1812-1815).  —  During  the  closing  years 
of  the  great  continental  struggle,  England  was  involved  in  a 
secondary  war  not  so  glorious  by  half.  The  restrictions 
imposed  on  neutral  trade  had  worked  havoc  with  the  com- 
merce of  the  United  States.  The  outraged  Yankees  imputed 
the  whole  blame  to  England,  because  American  vessels  were 
continually  challenged  for  contravening  the  Orders  in  Coun- 
cil, while  Napoleon  had  no  means  of  enforcing  his  no  less 
obnoxious  decrees.  A  further  grievance  against  England 
was  her  assumption  of  the  right  to  impress  into  the  king's 
service  English  seamen  wherever  found.  Thousands  of 
British-born  sailors  had  made  their  way  to  America,  and, 

2E 


Treaty  of 
Vienna,  1815 


41 8  TJie  Struggle  for  Empire 

after  becoming  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
had  enlisted  in  the  navy  or  found  employment  on  merchant 
vessels.  The  men  were  sorely  needed  to  man  English  war- 
ships, and  in  accordance  with  the  then  accepted  doctrine 
of  inalienable  allegiance  —  "  Once  an  Englishman  always  an 
Englishman  "  —  British  naval  commanders  were  authorized 
to  overhaul  American  vessels  in  search  of  renegades.  The 
practice  was  bitterly  protested  on  this  side  the  Atlantic,  and 
in  1812  Congress  was  driven  to  declare  war  against  the 
mother  country.  England  was  preoccupied  in  the  contest 
with  Napoleon,  and  sent  an  inadequate  force  to  meet  the 
new  antagonist.  The  Yankees  were  not  unworthy  their 
inheritance,  and  soon  proved  adepts  at  sea-fighting.  To 
their  lasting  chagrin.  Englishmen  saw  themselves  beaten  on 
Treaty  of  their  own  element.  The  treaty  of  Ghent  was  primarily  a 
Ghent,  1814.  treaty  for  peace.  No  mention  was  made  of  the  grounds  of 
contention,  the  right  of  search  and  the  privileges  of  neutral 
trade,  but  America  won  her  point  in  that  the  prerogatives 
tlien  protested  have  never  been  reasserted  by  the  English 
government. 


Important  Events  in  the  History  of  the  British  Empire 

1497-1498.     Cabot  voyages. 

1588.     Defeat  of  Spanish  AriTiada. 

1600.     Establishment  of  the  East  India  Company. 

1607.     Beginning  of  permanent  settlements  in  America. 

1620-1640.     Settlement  of  New  England. 

165 1.  Navigation  Act. 

1652.  1 

1665.  \  War  with  Holland. 

1672.  J 

1657.     Capture  of  Jamaica. 

1667.     Seizure  of  Dutch  Settlements  in  America. 

1689-1815.     Contest  between  France  and  England. 

1713.     Peace  of  Utrecht.     England's  maritime  supremacy. 

1744.     Rivalry  of  French  and  English  in  India. 

1757.     Plassey.     England  and  the  native  power. 


Important  Events  419 

1763.     Peace  of  Paris.     Overthrow  of  French  power  in  America 

and  India. 
1765.     Stamp  Act. 

1783.  Independence  of  American  Colonies. 

1784.  Pitfs  India  Bill. 

1787.     Beginning  of  Australian  Colonization. 
1793.     War  with  P" ranee. 
1805.    Trafalgar. 

1815.    Treaty  of  Vienna.     Territorial  conquests  in  the  East  and 
in  South  Africa. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE   GROWTH   OF  DEMOCRACY 
Books  for   Consultation 

Sources 

Smith,  Life  and  Speeches  of  John  Bright. 

Macaulay,  Speeches. 

Gladstone,  Speeches. 

Adams,  Representative  British  Orations. 

Special  Authorities 

McCarthy,  History  of  Our  Own  Times,  Sir  Robert  Peel. 

Gammage,  History  of  the  Chartist  Movement. 

Morley,  Cobden,  Gladstone. 

May,  Constitutional  History  of  England. 

Political  History  of  England,  Vols.  XI,  XH. 

Whates,  The  Third  Salisbury  Administration,  1S95-1900. 

Dicey,  England'' s  Case  against  Home  Rule. 

Duniaven,  The  Outlook  in  Ireland. 

Imaginative  Literature 

Banks,  The  Manchester  Man. 

Mulock,y(3/;«  Halifax,  Gentletnan. 

Kingsley,  Alton  Locke. 

Disraeli,  Coningsby. 

Tennyson,  Locksley  Hall,  Locksley  Hall  Seventy  Years  After. 

The  Reform  Movement.  —  The  first  effect  produced  on 
English  thought  by  the  French  Revolution  had  been  a  strong 
aversion  to  the  political  doctrine  that  could  give  birth  to 
such  horrors.  A  v^^ave  of  reaction  passed  over  the  country, 
discrediting  progressive  statesmen  and  sweeping  all  reform 
projects  into  oblivion.     But  England  could  not  long  remain 

420 


TJie  Reform  Movement  421 

ignorant  of  the  lasting  significance  of  that  tremendous  revolt 
against  arbitrary  government.  France  was  indeed  conquered 
in  1815  and  the  Bourbons  restored,  but  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  the  Revolution  were  not  undone.  Just  laws  and  a 
liberal  constitution  were  secured  to  the  French  people  by 
the  very  monarchs  who  had  undertaken  the  crusade  in 
behalf  of  Louis  XVI. 

During  the  twenty  years  of  war,  the  cause  of  English  Oman, 
liberty  had  lost  much  and  gained  nothing.  Absorbed  in  England  in 
the  long  struggle  with  Napoleon,  the  Tory  ministers  had  Jg^jh 
given  little  thought  to  the  national  well-being.  Enthusiasm  Century, 
for  the  war,  pride  in  its  triumphant  conclusion  and  in  the  53-62. 
commercial  prestige  acquired  by  England,  together  with  the 
prosperity  accruing  to  trade  and  manufactures  from  the  ex- 
traordinary war  market  for  iron  and  cloth,  had  blinded  men's 
eyes  to  the  heavy  cost  of  the  conflict.  Peace  once  declared, 
the  nation  began  to  balance  accounts.  The  national  debt 
amounted  to  ^861,000,000.  The  financial  pressure  was 
such  that  the  Bank  of  England  suspended  specie  payment 
(1797)5  ^^^  for  twenty-two  years  the  country  had  to  be 
content  with  a  depreciating  paper  currency.  The  conse- 
quent rise  in  prices  was  exaggerated  by  the  hazards  of  trade 
with  the  Continent  and  by  a  series  of  bad  harvests  which 
brought  food  up  to  famine  rates.  In  the  last  years  of  the 
war,  the  price  of  wheat  rose  to  i']is.  a  quarter.  Neverthe- 
less, the  Corn  Law  of  18 15,  which  prohibited  the  importation 
of  grain  until  the  price  should  reach  80^-,  a  quarter,  was 
vigorously  maintained  by  the  landlord  class,  who  secured  the 
lion's  share  of  the  profits  of  this  protective  legislation.  The 
prosperity  of  the  landlord  and  the  farmer  was  not  shared 
by  the  agricultural  laborer,  who,  during  these  years  of  ex- 
traordinary prices,  was  steadily  sinking  into  misery  and 
want.  Wages  could  not  cover  the  cost  of  subsistence  and 
had  to  be  supplemented  from  the  poor  rates.  Peace  dealt 
a  severe  blow  to  the  manufactures  that  had  flourished  on  the 
war  market,  and  operatives  were  thrown  out  of  employment. 
Discharged  soldiers  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 


422 


The  GnnvtJi  of  Democracy 


Browning;, 
The  Lost 
Leader. 


thousand  sought  self-supporting  trades.  Many  drifted  into 
the  ranks  of  the  unemployed.  At  the  moment  when  Eng- 
land attained  the  acme  of  her  military  renown,  her  laboring 
people  were  being  reduced  to  pauperism. 

Reform  Writers.  —  National  glory  won  at  such  a  cost 
was  not  cause  for  congratulation.  Men  were  found  bold 
enough  to  assert  that  while  warring  against  the  Continental 
System,  England  allowed  more  hateful  impositions  to  pass 
unchallenged  within  her  own  boundaries.  A  revulsion  of 
feeling  characterized  the  second  and  third  decades  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  writers  of  the  day  were  first  to  rec- 
ognize that  the  ideals  of  the  French  Revolution  were  far  in 
advance  of  English  conceptions  of  justice  and  right.  Words- 
worth had  greeted  with  rapture  the  birth  of  democracy  in 
France,  but  the  violence  of  the  Jacobins  filled  him  with  such 
despair  as  to  chill  his  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  people  for 
self-government.  Shelley's  democratic  idealism  could,  how- 
ever, ignore  the  ugly  facts  of  the  Revolution.  Byron  struck 
telling  blows  for  freedom  in  his  wild  revolt  against  con- 
vention and  dogma,  while  Burns,  the  Ayrshire  ploughman, 
voiced  the  people's  protest  against  class  inequalities. 

Reform  Politicians.  —  In  1819,  the  advocates  of  democ- 
racy formed  the  Radical  party.  The  movement  originated 
with  Cobbett's  Weekly  Political  Register,  a  twopenny 
sheet  that  had  a  wide  circulation  and  enormous  influence 
among  the  working-classes.  The  Radicals  voiced  the 
prevailing  discontent  and  proposed  legislative  reforms  that 
should  give  the  people  more  influence  in  government. 
Redistribution  of  the  representation,  manhood  suffrage,  and 
annual  parliaments  were  urged  as  the  steps  necessary  to 
insure  the  expression  of  the  popular  will  in  order  that  the 
unrepresented  people  might  make  their  purpose  felt,  mass 
meetings  were  held,  secret  associations  were  formed,^  and 
propagandist  literature  was  scattered  far  and  wide. 

The  government,  abnormally  suspicious  of  any  popular 
movement,  determined  to  crush  the  malcontents.     A  politi- 

1  E.g.  the  Hampden  clubs. 


tu 

h 

'I 

o; 

Kl 

o 

!>3 

The  Reform  Bill  of  1832  423 

cal  demonstration  at  Spa  Fields,  London  (1816),  was 
broken  up  by  the  police.  Three  years  later,  a  convention 
held  in  Manchester  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  "  legislato- 
rial representative  "  for  that  unrepresented  town,  was  raided 
by  a  military  force,  and  seventy  persons  were  injured. 
The  Manchester  Massacre,  or  the  battle  of  Peterloo,^  as 
it  was  derisively  called,  roused  intense  indignation ;  but 
the  Radicals  were  discredited  by  the  attempt  of  a  group  of  The 

fanatics  to  assassinate  the  Ministry,  and  Parliament  passed  a   ^^*°  ^^''^^^ 

,  .  ...  T      Conspiracy, 

series  of  laws  imposmg  severe  penalties   on  sedition.     Jt 

was  becoming  every  year  more  evident  that  the  govern- 
ment was  quite  independent  of  the  people,  since  the  House 
of  Commons  represented  only  the  landed  gentry  and  the 
upper  middle  class. 

The  Reform  Bill  of  1832.  —  The  continental  revolutions  Oman, 
of  1830  which  secured  constitutional  government  for  France,  72-82. 
Belgium,  and  several  of  the  German  states,  produced  a 
marked  effect  in  England.  They  seemed  to  prove  that 
reforms  could  be  accomplished  without  anarchy,  and  Eng- 
lishmen began  to  question  whether,  after  all,  their  own 
constitution  might  not  safely  be  modified  to  suit  modern 
needs.  The  Tory  party,  which  had  enjoyed  twenty-three  William  IV. 
years  of  unquestioned  supremacy,  showed  signs  of  weakness 
at  last.  The  reactionary  policy  of  the  government  had 
driven  the  bulk  of  the  middle  class  into  the  Opposition. 
In  the  elections  that  followed  immediately  upon  the  death 
of  George  IV  (1830),  the  Whigs  won  a  signal  victory.  The 
Tories  lost  fifty  seats,  and  Wellington  was  obliged  to  resign. 
Lord  Grey,  who  was  called  by  William  IV  (1S30-1837)  to 
take  his  place,  had  been  for  forty  years  the  stanch  cham- 
pion of  parliamentary  reform.  A  bill  was  framed  by  the 
Ministry  and  introduced  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Lord 
John  Russell  (March  i,  1831).  It  provided  for  the  dis- 
enfranchisement  of  the  rotten  boroughs,  the  redistribution 
of  seats  among  the  counties  and  hitherto  unrepresented 
towns,  and  the  extension  of  the  borough  franchise  to  all 

1  The  meeting  was  held  in  St.  Peter's  Field. 


424  TJic  Growth   of  Democracy 

ten-pound  householders.^  The  bill  was  received  with 
derisive  cheers  from  the  Tory  benches,  and  though  en- 
dorsed by  the  king  and  maintained  by  all  the  influence  the 
Ministry  could  bring  to  bear,  it  was  defeated  on  the  third 
reading  by  a  majority  of  eight.  The  government  determined 
to  have  recourse  to  the  people.  The  dissolution  of  Parlia- 
ment was  declared  by  the  king  in  person  on  April  22,  and 
through  May  and  June  the  country  rang  with  the  excitement 
of  the  campaign.  The  result  was  even  better  than  the 
Whigs  had  hoped.  When  the  bill  came  to  its  third  read- 
ing in  the  new  House  of  Commons  (September  21),  it 
passed  by  a  majority  of  one  hundred  and  nine.  The 
measure  had  still,  however,  to  run  the  gantlet  of  the  peers. 
The  Upper  House  did  not  deign  to  admit  the  bill  to  consid- 
eration, but  threw  it  out  on  the  first  reading  by  a  majority 
of  forty-one. 

The  rejection,  by  a  privileged  ~  and  non-representative 
body,  of  a  measure  which  had  the  enthusiastic  support  of 
the  great  majority  of  the  nation  roused  intense  indignation 
throughout  the  country.  Political  unions  were  formed  with 
a  view  to  bringing  public  opinion  to  bear  upon  the  reac- 
tionary legislators.  A  reform  programme  was  announced 
which  went  so  far  as  to  propose  the  abolition  of  all  hereditary 
privileges  and  distinctions  of  rank.  The  Lords  could  noc 
but  be  influenced  by  the  popular  agitation,  violent  and  ill- 
advised  though  it  sometimes  was,  and  when  a  third  reform 
bill  came  up  for  its  second  reading  in  the  Upper  House,  the 
Ministry  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  majority  of  nine.  A 
motion  to  postpone  final  action  was,  nevertheless,  carried 
(May  7,  1832),  and  this  was  practical  defeat.  Driven  to 
extremities,  Lord  Grey  appealed  to  the  king  to  overcome 
the  opposing  majority  by  the  creation  of  new  peers.  This 
was  refused,  and  the  Ministry  resigned.  An  attempt  to 
form  a  Tory  Cabinet  under  the  Duke  of  Wellington  failed. 
The  popular  protest  was  overwhelming.     The  Whig  papers 

1  I.e.  to  adult  males  renting  or  owning  property  to  the  annual  value 
of  ^Tio. 


Effects  of  Reform  425 

came  out  in  mourning,  and  petitions  were  sent  up  to  Parlia- 
ment signed  by  thousands  of  the  unrepresented.  The  agi- 
tators announced  their  determination  to  march  to  London 
in  numbers  sufficient  to  compel  regard  for  the  nation's  will. 
Wellington  dared  not  resort  to  force,  for  the  military  could 
not  be  trusted  to  fight  against  the  people.  Finally  (May  15, 
1832)  the  king  recalled  Lord  Grey  and  sent  a  circular  letter 
to  the  peers,  requesting  them  to  withdraw  their  opposition. 
The  Duke  of  Wellington  and  one  hundred  other  peers  ab- 
stained from  voting,  and  thus  the  House  of  Lords  approved 
the  bill  (June  4,  1832). 

Effects  of  Reform.  —  The  Reform  Act  was  a  signal  triumph 
of  the  popular  will  over  vested  right  and  hereditary  privilege. 
Fifty-six  rotten  boroughs  were  disenfranchised,  and  thirty 
were  deprived  each  of  one  member.  The  one  hundred  and 
forty-three  memberships  so  vacated  were  assigned  to  the 
more  populous  counties  and  thirty-nine  hitherto  unrepre- 
sented towns.  Thus,  after  an  interval  of  nearly  two  hundred 
years,  the  electoral  reform  proposed  by  Cromwell  was  re- 
sumed. Representation  was  not  yet,  however,  exacdy  pro- 
portioned to  population.  Manhood  suffrage  and  annual 
parliaments  were  not  even  broached.  But  the  people  had 
got  a  foothold  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  might  bide 
their  time.  The  Reform  Act  of  1832  transferred  the  balance 
of  power  from  the  landed  aristocracy  to  the  manufacturers 
and  merchants  —  the  dominant  classes  of  the  newly  en- 
franchised towns.  Only  fifty  Radicals  were  returned  to  the 
new  Parliament.  The  populace,  though  it  had  borne  the 
brunt  of  the  agitation,  was  not  yet  intrusted  with  the  ballot. 
The  property  qualification,  an  annual  rental  of  ;^io  in 
towns  and  ^50  in  rural  districts,  excluded  all  below  the 
rank  of  well-to-do  artisans  and  tenant-farmers. 

The  Whigs  now  entered  upon  a  long  lease  of  power. 
From  1830  to  1874  the  Tories  were  in  office  but  eight  years 
all  told.  With  the  change  in  the  character  of  representation 
and  the  consequent  change  of  policy,  new  party  names  were 
adopted.     The  Whigs,  led   henceforth   by  the  progressive 


426  TJie  GrowtJi  of  Democracy 

contingent,  called  themselves  Liberals ;   while    the   Tories, 
conceiving  their  function  to  be  the  preservation  of  a  time- 
honored  constitution,  preferred  to  be  known  as  Conserva- 
tives. 
Oman,  Reform  Legislation.  —  The    reforms    undertaken   by  the 

84-88.  flrst  Parliament  elected  on  the  new  basis  were  directed  by 

middle  class  interests,  and  fell  i.\x  short  of  popular  expecta- 
tion. An  act  was  passed  (1833)  emancipating  the  slaves 
on  West  Indian  plantations,  but  with  heavy  compensation 
to  their  owners  (_;^2 0,000,000).  The  poor  laws  were  revised 
(1834)  with  a  view  to  checking  the  growth  of  pauperism. 
The  new  act  was.  based  on  the  wholesome  principles  of  the 
Elizabethan  law.  The  able-bodied  could  get  no  aid  from 
the  officials  outside  the  workhouse.  Only  the  aged  and 
helpless  were  relieved  in  their  own  homes.  The  measure 
proved  to  be  both  just  and  merciful,  but  it  was  bitterly 
resented  by  the  classes  accustomed,  for  a  century  past,  to 
regard  parish  aid  as  the  poor  man's  right.  More  popular 
measures,  e.g.  the  Factory  Act  (1833),  and  the  reform  in 
municipal  government  (1835),  were  not  initiated  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  but  were  forced  upon  its  notice  by 
public  discontent. 

A  revolt  in  Lower  Canada  (1836-183 7)  called  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  French  population  bitterly  resented  the 
F^nglish  administration.  A  commission  sent  out  to  study 
the  situation  reported  the  necessity  of  conceding  fully  repre- 
sentative government  to  these  growing  colonies.  Each  of 
the  several  provinces  was  granted  (1840)  an  elective  assem- 
bly with  practical  control  over  taxation  and  a  responsible 
ministry. 
Oman,  Chartist  Agitation.  —  Beneficent    and    necessary   as   was 

92-95-  much  of  this  legislation,  it  did   not   remove   the   sense  of 

grievance  from  the  minds  of  the  common  people,  who  had 
supported  the  Reform  Act  in  the  hope  that  a  representative 
Parliament  would  enact  more  radical  measures.  The  bulk 
of  the  Liberal  party  was,  however,  well  content  with  the 
results  attained.     Lord   John  Russell  declared  in  the  first 


Queen  Victoria 


Chartist  Agitation  427 

Parliament  convened  after  the  accession  of  Victoria  (1837) 
that  reform  could  not  safely  be  pushed  further.  The  dis- 
appointment and  indignation  of  the  Radicals  was  intense. 
Convinced  that  the  people  would  never  get  their  rights  till 
they  could  send  spokesmen  to  the  House  of  Commons,  they 
entered  with  renewed  zeal  upon  a  crusade  for  popular  repre- 
sentation. A  conference  between  certain  prominent  Radi- 
cals and  the  working-class  leaders  was  called  in  1838,  and 
a  programme  for  the  new  campaign  was  agreed  upon.  The 
six  points  of  the  People's  Charter  were  :  annual  Parliaments, 
manhood  suffrage,  vote  by  ballot,  the  division  of  the  country 
into  equal  electoral  districts,  abolition  of  the  property  quali- 
fication for  members  of  the  Lower  House,  and  salaries  for 
the  people's  representatives.  The  Chartists,  as  the  agita- 
tors called  themselves,  advocated  parliamentary  reform  only 
as  a  means  to  an  end.  The  exact  nature  of  that  end  was  as 
yet  undefined.  Socialistic,  even  anarchistic,  schemes  were 
in  the  air,  and  awakened  consternation  among  the  propertied 
and  order-loving  classes.  Malcontents  of  every  party  were 
attracted  to  the  ranks  of  the  reformers.  "  Universal  suf- 
frage," said  a  Radical  orator,  "  the  meaning  of  universal 
suffrage  is  that  every  working-man  in  the  land  has  a  right  to 
a  good  coat,  a  good  roof,  a  good  dinner,  no  more  work  than 
will  keep  him  in  health,  and  as  much  wages  as  will  keep 
him  in  plenty." 

No  effective  means  of  propagating  the  new  gospel  was 
neglected.  Newspapers  and  Radical  clubs  were  set  on  foot 
in  every  principal  town,  mass  meetings  were  called  at  fre- 
quent intervals,  and  in  1839  the  Chartists  held  a  national 
convention.  A  huge  petition  was  sent  to  the  House  •  of 
Commons  bearing  1,200,000  signatures.  The  petition  was 
contemptuously  rejected,  and  riotous  outbreaks  followed  in 
divers  parts  of  the  kingdom.  A  second  petition  was  pre- 
sented in  1842  and  met  with  a  like  fate.  This  time  the 
petitioners,  some  three  million  men,  demanded  not  only 
the  "six  points,"  but  the  repeal  of  all  class  legislation,  the 
abohtion  of  monopolies,  and  the  redistribution  of  property. 


428  The  Growtli  of  Democracy 

Demonstrations  and  riots  grew  so  serious  that  thousands  of 
middle-class  voters  were  fairly  frightened  into  the  Conser- 
vative party. 

Sir  Robert  Peel  and  the  Corn  Laws.  —  By  the  elections  of 
1 84 1,  the  Conservatives  secured  an  overwhelming  majority 
in  the  House  of  Commons.     Their  leader,  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
Oman,  was  the  son  of  a  great  cotton-mill  owner  of  Lancashire,  and 

97-100.  j^jg  sympathies  were  enlisted  with  the  manufacturing,  as  op- 

posed to  the  landed  interest.  He  introduced  measures  cal- 
culated to  better  the  conditions  of  the  miners  and  operatives, 
such  as  the  Mines  Act  of  184 1  and  the  Factory  Act  of  1844, 
and  succeeded  in  reducing  the  import  duties  on  some  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  articles  that  served  as  raw  material  for 
manufactures  or  as  food  for  the  working-classes.  So  far  he 
was  supported  by  his  party,  but  when  he  proposed  to  reduce 
the  duties  on  grain,  he  struck  at  the  very  foundations  of  the 
Tory  aristocracy. 

The  repeal  of  the  Corn  Law  had  long  been  advocated  by 
enlightened  Liberals  who  held  that  the  interests  of  the  great 
manufacturing  communities  ought  not  to  be  subordinated 
The  Irish  to  those  of  the  farmers  and  landlords.  In  1845,  the  Irish 
famine  brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  The  potato  crop  failed, 
and  four  million  people  were  reduced  to  the  verge  of  star- 
vation. Food  at  lower  prices  must  be  had,  whatever  the 
loss  to  the  landed  interest.  Early  in  1846,  much  to  the 
scandal  of  the  Tories,  who  thought  him  a  traitor,  and  of 
the  Liberals,  who  accused  him  of  stealing  their  thunder, 
Peel  introduced  a  bill  which  provided  for  an  immediate  re- 
duction of  the  duties  on  imported  grain  and  their  abolition 
after  1849.  Despite  the  protest  of  disappointed  politicians 
and  irate  landowners,  the  measure  passed  both  Houses. 
The  loss  of  revenue  to  the  government  was  made  good  by 
an  income  tax.^  Shiploads  of  grain  were  sent  over  from 
America,  the  price  of  wheat  fell  to  a  normal  level,  and  the 
poor  were  supplied  with  bread  at  reasonable  rates.  No 
more  beneficent  and  far-reaching  measure  of  reform  was 
1  Seven  pence  in  the  pound  on  all  incomes  of  £  150  and  over. 


Famine. 


Chartist  Demonstration  429 

ever  enacted  by  Parliament ;  but  the  repeal  of  the  Corn 
Law  proved  Peel's  political  ruin  and  produced  a  breach  in 
the  Conservative  party  that  rendered  it  powerless  for  thirty 
years  to  come. 

Chartist  Demonstration  (1848). — The  year  1848  wit- 
nessed a  second  epidemic  of  revolutions  throughout  the 
Continent.  Not  only  France,  Germany,  and  Italy,  but 
Austria,  the  stronghold  of  despotism,  was  convulsed  by 
the  upheaval.  Paris,  the  city  of  insurrections,  was  mastered 
by  the  combined  strength  of  republicans  and  socialists,  and 
a  working-class  republic  was  established.  This  signal  suc- 
cess of  their  brothers  across  the  Channel  stirred  the  Chartists 
to  new  exertions.  Under  the  lead  of  Feargus  O'Connor, 
the  democratic  agitation  came  to  a  head.  A  national  con- 
vention was  assembled  in  London,  April  6,  1848,  and  ar- 
rangements were  made  for  a  mighty  demonstration.  A 
monster  petition,  boasting  five  million  signatures,  was  to  be 
carried  to  Westminster  on  the  loth,  by  a  body  of  five  hundred 
thousand  men.  The  government  was,  however,  amply  fore- 
warned. The  Duke  of  Wellington  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
defence,  and  competent  arrangements  were  made  to  prevent 
disorder.  The  Chartists  were  at  odds  among  themselves  as 
to  whether  they  should  or  should  not  use  force.  The  more 
timid  and  level-headed  among  them  withdrew  from  a  proj- 
ect which  could  only  result  in  failure  or  defeat.  Some 
twenty-five  thousand  finally  gathered  on  Kennington  Com- 
mon, but  they  were  frightened  by  the  force  arrayed  against 
them,  and  meekly  consented  to  send  their  petition  to  the 
House  of  Commons  in  three  cabs.  When  submitted  to 
examination,  the  five  million  signatures  dwindled  to  two 
million,  many  of  these  evidently  bogus.  So  the  most  formi- 
dable working-class  movement  of  the  century  ended  in 
fiasco.  When  brought  to  the  test,  Chartism  proved  to  be  a 
mere  wind-bag  blown  to  portentous  dimensions  by  dema- 
gogues and  would-be  politicians. 

Yet  the  agitation  had  its  valuable  results.  The  people 
were  trained  to  think,  to    search    for  the    causes  of  their 


430  TJic  Grozvt/i  of  Denioc7-acy 

misery,  to  look  for  legislative  reform.  The  "classes"  were 
compelled  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  "  masses," 
to  recognize  their  own  responsibility  for  the  national  well- 
being,  and  to  set  about  measures  of  redress.  The  essential 
clauses  of  the  Charter  have  since  been  attained  —  not  by 
insurrections  and  mob  violence,  but  by  the  characteristically 
English  method  of  free  discussion  and  parliamentary  enact- 
ment. 

Palmerston.  —  The  dominant  figure  in  English  politics 
for  the  next  seventeen  years  was  Lord  Palmerston,  the  most 
daring  diplomatist  that  has  held  office  in  England  since  the 
elder  Pitt.  Palmerston  was  originally  a  Tory,  but  he  joined 
the  Whigs  on  the  parliamentary  reform  issue  and  soon  be- 
came a  trusted  leader.  Essentially  conservative,  Palmerston 
was  content  with  the  measure  of  representation  accorded  in 
1832,  and  thereafter  concerned  himself  little  with  domestic 
affairs.  His  brilliant  talents  were  devoted  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  a  vigorous  European  policy.  He  resumed  the  office 
of  foreign  secretary  in  1853  with  the  avowed  purpose  of 
pushing  British  interests  in  the  East. 

The  Eastern  Question.  —  The  trade  routes  to  the  Orient, 
and  hence  England's  connections  with  India,  lay  at  the 
mercy  of  the  power  controlling  the  Hellespont  and  the  Red 
Sea.  So  long  as  these  strategic  points  were  in  the  hands  of 
the  Turk,  the  "sick  man  "  ^  of  Europe,  the  government  felt 
secure.  That  security  was  now  threatened,  however,  by 
Russia's  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  Sultan.  Nicho- 
las I,  "  the  iron  Czar,"  had  demanded  that  he  should  be 
accorded  the  right  to  protect  Greek  Christians  residing  in 
the  dominions  of  the  Porte  against  Mohammedan  misrule, 
and,  when  his  request  was  refused,  sent  troops  across  the 
Danube.  It  was  to  be  feared  that  the  Czar  might  utilize 
this  opportunity  to  seize  Constantinople  and  thereby  secure 

1  The  Czar  Nicholas  said  to  an  English  ambassador,  "We  have  on 
our  hands  a  sick  man,  a  very  sick  man  ;  it  would  be  a  great  misfortune  if, 
one  of  these  days,  he  should  slip  away  from  us  before  the  necessary  ar- 
rangements have  been  made." 


TJic  Crime  a)  I  War  43 1 

access  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  the  traditional  goal  of 
Russia's  ambition.  The  jirotest  of  Palmerston,  although 
coupled  with  that  of  Napoleon  III,  availed  nothing,  and  war 
was  declared  in  the  spring  of  1854.  England  and  France 
sent  a  joint  force  to  check  the  Russian  advance,  and,  that 
being  accomplished,  moved  on  to  attack  the  Czar's  strong- 
hold on  the  Black  Sea,  the  great  fortress  of  Sebastopol. 

The  Crimean  War  (1854-1856).  —  The  government  had  Oman, 
been  relying  on  diplomacy  and  was  unprepared  for  war.  128-140. 
England  had  enjoyed  a  peace  of  forty  years'  duration.  Not 
a  shot  had  been  fired  by  British  troops  on  European  soil 
since  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  The  army  was  wonted  to 
barrack  life,  and  the  men  were  unprepared  for  active  cam- 
paigning. Few  of  the  officers  had  any  experience  of  war, 
and  many  of  them  had  secured  their  appointments  by  family 
or  political  influence.  The  commissary  department  proved 
quite  inadequate  to  the  emergency.  Transportation  facili- 
ties were  lacking  in  the  Crimea,  and  when  winter  came  on 
the  soldiers  suffered  for  want  of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter, 
though  supplies  in  abundance  had  been  shipped  from  Eng- 
land. In  January,  1855,  there  were  but  eleven  thousand 
men  fit  for  service ;  thirteen  thousand  lay  sick  in  the  im- 
provised hospitals.  The  death-roll  from  disease  alone 
amounted  in  the  end  to  nine  thousand. 

Wellington's  soldiers  had  died  for  lack  of  supplies  in  the 
Peninsular  service,  but  there  were  no  war  correspondents  to 
send  home  the  facts.  The  telegraph  had  brought  Sebastopol 
within  hearing  distance  of  London,  and  the  dreadful  details 
were  printed  in  the  daily  papers.  A  wave  of  popular  indig- 
nation swept  the  prime  minister,  Lord  Aberdeen,  from  office, 
and  Palmerston  was  called  to  take  control  of  the  govern- 
ment. Under  his  vigorous  administration  supplies  were 
poured  into  the  Crimea,  a  railway  was  built  from  the  harbor 
to  the  scene  of  operations,  medicines  were  provided,  and 
an  efficient  force  of  hospital  nurses  sent  out.^     The  allied 

1  Under  the  lead  of  Florence  Nightingale,  many  English  women  went  to 
the  tield. 


432  TJie  Grozvth  of  Democracy 

troops  fought  well,  but  the  Russians  made  stubborn  resist- 
ance. Sebastopol  was  surrendered  (September  8,  1855) 
after  a  siege  of  eleven  months,  and  the  Russian  fortifications 
were  demohshed. 

Results.  —  The  victory  had  cost  England  dear.  Fully 
twenty  thousand  men  had  fallen  in  battle  or  died  in  hospi- 
tals, while  the  national  debt  was  increased  by  ^33,000,000.^ 
The  gains  were  but  dubious.  In  the  treaty  of  Paris  that 
terminated  the  war,  England  won  no  permanent  advantage. 
The  reinstated  Sultan  promised  to  respect  the  liberties  of 
his  Christian  subjects,  but  the  pledge  was  not  fulfilled.  The 
stipulation  that  the  Czar  should  destroy  his  arsenals  on  the 
Black  Sea^  checked  the  Russian  advance  toward  Constanti- 
nople, but  not  for  long.  Palmerston  saw  clearly  that  the 
snake  was  "scotched,  not  killed";  but  the  nation  was  con- 
tent. The  valor  of  British  soldiers  had  made  good  the 
shortcomings  of  the  administration.  Russia  was  humiliated 
and  exhausted.     The  Eastern  question  seemed  settled. 

The  East  India  Company  Abolished.  —  Hardly  was  the 
Crimean  War  at  an  end  when  Great  Britain  was  called  upon 
to  suppress  a  bloody  insurrection  in  India.  During  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  East  India  Company  had 
pushed  its  conquests  and  annexed  one  after  another  of  the 
native  states,  until  the  whole  peninsula  from  the  Ganges  to 
the  Indus  was  brought  under  the  British  crown.  Railways 
were  built  connecting  the  ports  with  the  interior,  telegraph 
Hnes  were  carried  through  the  country,  and  its  rich  resources 
were  brought  within  reach  of  English  trade.  But  the  preju- 
dices of  the  natives  were  contemptuously  ignored.  Hindoos 
were  forced  to  serve  in  the  British  army,  and  were  even  sent 
over-sea  to  fight  the  battles  of  England  in  Burmah  and  in 
China,  The  people  grew  restless  and  resentful.  They 
cherished  a  tradition  that  the  rule  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany would  last  but  one  hundred  years,  and  eagerly  awaited 
the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Plassey. 

1  The  war  expenses  for  the  three  years  were  estimated  at  ;^77,588,ocx). 

2  This  restriction  was  abandoned  in  1870  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon  III. 


Electoral  Reform  Again  433 

The  spark  that  set  flame  to  this  smouldering  discontent 
was  the  rumor  that  the  native  troops  were  to  be  forced  to  Oman, 
accept  Christianity.  On  May  7,  1857,  the  Sepoys  mutinied,  219-239. 
slew  their  English  officers,  and  declared  the  aged  Mogul 
prince  to  be  emperor  of  India.  Within  a  few  days  they  got 
possession  of  Delhi,  the  ancient  capital,  and  other  principal 
towns  of  the  interior.  Many  of  the  English  residents  were 
massacred.  Not  even  the  women  and  children  escaped  the 
fury  of  the  frenzied  natives.  The  government  was  taken  by 
surprise  and  was  utterly  unable  to  check  the  revolt  until  reen- 
forcements  were  sent  from  England.  Then  superior  dis- 
cipline and  generalship  began  to  tell.  Delhi  was  taken  after 
a  three  months'  siege,  the  poor  emperor  of  India  was  made 
prisoner,  and  his  sons  and  principal  adherents  were  shot. 
The  exasperated  English  dealt  out  terrible  punishment  to 
the  rebels.  When  the  revolt  was  finally  suppressed,  steps 
were  taken  to  reform  the  government.  The  East  India 
Company  was  abolished,  and  the  government  of  India  was 
brought  under  the  direct  administration  of  the  Crown. 

Electoral  Reform  again. — Under  the  leadership  of 
Palmerston,  the  Liberals  were  essentially  a  middle-class 
party.  The  limitations  on  county  suffrage  gave  the  balance 
of  political  power  to  the  towns,  and  legislation  was  dictated 
by  manufacturing  and  mercantile  interests.  The  men  who 
had  achieved  the  reform  of  1832  were  content  with  this 
result  and  deprecated  any  change.  Oddly  enough,  the  only 
notable  proposition  for  extension  of  the  suffrage  between 
1832  and  1868  came  from  the  Conservatives.  Disraeli,  a 
brilliant  and  erratic  member  of  Lord  Derby's  Cabinet,  took 
advantage  of  their  brief  lease  of  power  to  introduce  a  bill 
(1859)  providing  for  household  franchise  in  town  and 
country  alike.  The  measure  was  intended  to  give  more 
influence  to  agrarian  interests  and  so  to  conciliate  the 
landed  aristocracy.  A  makeweight  against  democracy  was 
proposed  in  the  stipulation  allowing  additional  votes  to  men 
of  education  and  property.  The  defeat  of  the  Ministry 
was  a   foregone  conclusion,  but   the    discussion    served    to 

2  F 


434 


The  Grotvth  of  Democracy 


bring  the   question    of  electoral    reform   again   before    the 
country. 

The  Liberals  and  Extension  of  the  Suffrage.  —  When 
the  death  of  Palmerston  (1865)  left  the  more  progressive 
element  of  the  Liberal  party  in  the  ascendant,  the  work 
of  reform  was  undertaken  in  earnest.  Immediately  upon  his 
accession  to  the  premiership,   Lord    Russell,   the   life-long 


John  Bright 

From  a  photograph 


<y(ftp^  /Wi 


^j^U" 


champion  of  suffrage  extension,  framed  a  measure  on  which 
he  staked  the  success  of  his  administration.  The  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  a 
former  Peelite,  lately  turned  Liberal.  He  defended  the 
project  with  remarkable  eloquence,  and  was  ably  supported 
by  the  free-trade  Radical,  John  Bright.  But  the  measure 
was  a  timid  makeshift  and  failed  to  secure  the  support  of 


Elementary   Education  435 

the  Liberals  as  a  whole.  It  was  defeated  in  committee,  and 
Lord  Russell's  government  immediately  resigned  (June 
26,  1866). 

The  Reform  Act  of  1867. —  The  new  ministry  under 
Lord  Derby  was  composed  of  stiff  Conservatives,  but  they 
found  themselves  forced  by  public  feeling  to  broach  the 
question  of  the  suffrage.  A  reform  league  made  up  of  Oman, 
Radicals  and  working-class  leaders  plainly  signified  the  152-167. 
determination  of  the  people  not  to  be  defrauded  of  their 
rights  by  flictious  politicians.  Throughout  the  summer  and 
autumn  the  country  was  agitated  by  popular  demonstrations, 
such  as  had  extorted  the  first  Reform  Act.  An  attempt 
to  hold  a  mass  meeting  in  Hyde  Park  resulted  in  something 
very  like  a  riot.  Having  no  choice  but  to  bring  in  a  reform 
bill  or  to  resign  office,  the  Ministry  finally  yielded.  Their 
scheme,  as  originally  introduced  by  Disraeli  (February  25, 
1867),  was  meant  to  provide  against  giving  the  balance  of 
power  to  the  working-classes,  but  the  bill  was  amended 
again  and  again,  the  government  yielding  point  by  point, 
until  it  emerged,  August  15,  a  more  radical  measure  than 
the  Liberals  themselves  would  have  proposed.  Borough  suf- 
frage was  extended  to  all  householders  paying  taxes  and 
to  all  lodgers  paying  ^10  annual  rent.  \\\  the  counties  all 
persons  owning  property  of  ^5  annual  value  and  tenants 
paying  ;^i2  a  year  were  entitled  to  vote.  Thus  after  fifty 
years'  debate  were  the  people  admitted  to  power.  Lord 
Derby  characterized  the  measure  as  a  "  leap  in  the  dark," 
and  many  other  Conservatives  feared  for  the  result ;  but 
the  party  as  a  whole  supported  the  measure,  having,  as 
Disraeli  said,  "  been  educated  by  events." 

Elementary    Education.  —  "Now,"    said    Robert    Lowe, 
"we  must  educate  our  masters."     Within  three  years  of  this   Elementary 
second  extension  of  the  suffrage,  Parliament  enacted  that   Education 
every  child  in  the  United  Kingdom  should  receive  at  least        ' 
a  primary  education.     The  voluntary  schools  hitherto  pro- 
vided by  the  established  Church  and  the  various  rehgious 
sects,  were  to  be  supplemented  by  board  schools,  maintained 


436  The  Grozvth  of  Democracy 

out  of  the  parish   rates.     The  local    authorities  were    em- 
powered to  compel  the  attendance  of  the  children  within 
Traill,  VI,       their  several  districts.     A  marked  falling  off  in  the  number 
620-625.  of  illiterates  has  been  the  result.     The  proportion  of  Eng- 

lishmen who  could  not  sign  their  own  names  was  thirty- 
three  out  of  every  hundred  in  1843,  thirteen  in  1883,  and 
three  in  1899. 

Irish  Affairs.  —  English  party  history  can  hardly  be  com- 
prehended without  a  review  of  Irish  difficulties.  By  the 
Union,  Pitt  had  hoped  to  secure  to  Ireland  a  just  govern- 
ment and  to  England  respite  from  the  menace  of  insurrec- 
tion and  foreign  interference  that  had  rendered  the  sister 
island  a  perpetual  source  of  anxiety.  In  both  respects  the 
measure  failed.  Pitt's  project  of  Catholic  emancipation  was 
thwarted  by  the  opposition  of  the  king,  and  no  Romanist 
was  admitted  to  the  United  Parliament.  The  Irish  people 
felt  themselves  betrayed,  and  Bonaparte  found  malcontents 
ready  to  lend  him  aid  in  his  proposed  invasion  of  England. 
It  the  French  troops  had  been  able  to  effect  a  landing  in 
1803,  the  English  defence  might  have  been  paralyzed  by  an 
uprising  in  Ireland. 

Throughout  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Irish  question 
was  an  embarrassment  to  English  politics  and  party  leaders. 
The  friends  of  Ireland  protested  vigorously  and  often  effec- 
tively against  the  injustices  involved  in  alien  rule,  against 
the  religious  bigotry  that  excluded  Romanists  from  office 
and  extorted  from  a  Catholic  population  tithes  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Protestant  Church,  against  the  political  arro- 
gance that  intrusted  the  government  of  Irelafid  to  a  Cabinet 
that  was  essentially  English,  and  finally  against  the  system 
of  land  tenure  that  forced  a  starving  peasantry  to  pay  rack- 
rents  to  absentee  landlords. 

Catholic    Emancipation.  —  Irish  agitation   first    took    the 

form  of  a  demand  for  removal  of  the  political  disabilities 

Oman,  imposed  on  the  Romanists.     The  Catholic  Association,  or- 

67-71-  ganized  by  Daniel  O'Connell  for  bringing  pressure  to  bear 

on  the  government,  sent  petition  after  petition  to  the  House 


The  Irish  Famine  437 

of  Commons  in  vain.  The  repeal  of  the  Test  and  Corpora- 
tion Acts  (1828)  relieved  Dissenters  from  all  legal  dis- 
crimination, but  Roman  Catholics  were  regarded  as  more 
dangerous  to  the  established  order.  The  obstinate  Tory- 
Ministry  held  out  until  1829,  when,  Irish  revolt  being  feared, 
Wellington  and  Peel  declared  for  emancipation.  A  bill  was 
carried  through  both  Houses  providing  that  a  Roman  Catho- 
lic who  could  take  oath  to  support  the  State  and  not  to  in- 
jure the  established  Church  should  be  eligible  to  office. 
O'Connell  was  the  first  Romanist  sent  to  the  House  of 
Commons  as  a  representative  of  the  Irish  people.  He  soon 
had  a  following  of  fifty  Repealers. 

Renewed  Agitation.  —  The  abolition  of  religious  tests  was 
an  important  concession,  but  it  did  not  satisfy  the  Irish 
leaders.  Admitted  to  Parliament,  they  continued  to  agitate, 
and  with  renewed  vigor,  for  the  abolition  of  tithes  and  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Act  of  Union.  The  ecclesiastical  tithes 
were  soon  (1838)  commuted  to  a  rent  charge  to  be  paid  by 
the  landlord  in  lieu  of  the  tenant;  but  the  demand  for 
political  independence,  English  statesmen,  Liberal  and  Con- 
servative, were  agreed  in  refusing.  Resistance  only  fanned 
the  flame  of  race  jealousy.  O'Connell  had  always  kept 
within  the  law,  but  a  new  and  more  vigorous  element  among 
the  Repealers,  the  young  Ireland  party,  advocated  resort  to 
force  and  gained  immense  influence  with  the  people. 
Monster  mass  meetings  were  held  after  the  fashion  of  the 
contemporary  Chartist  demonstrations,  and  a  formidable 
insurrection  seemed  imminent.  The  government,  falling 
back  on  its  powers  of  coercion,  forbade  the  political  conven- 
tions, arrested  the  ringleaders  and  threw  them  into  prison. 

The  Irish  Famine.  —  Ireland  was  in  a  fair  way  to  be  sub- 
dued by  force  when  the  famine  of  1842-1844  gave  a  new  turn 
to  the  struggle.  Thousands  of  the  impoverished  people 
died  of  starvation  ;  thousands  more,  evicted  from  their  homes 
by  the  landlords  to  whom  they  could  pay  no  rent,  drifted 
into  the  poorhouses.  Those  who  had  the  money  to  pay 
for  the  passage  took  ship  for  America.     The  EngUsh  gov- 


438 


The  Growth  of  Democracy 


Traill,  VI, 

247-250. 


Disestab- 
lishment 
of  the 
Irish 
Church. 


ernment  repealed  the  Corn  Laws  and  organized  relief  work, 
but  these  well-meant  remedies  came  too  late  to  save  the 
situation.  The  population  fell  off  more  than  one  and  one- 
half-million  ^  in  these  years  of  uni)aralleled  misery.  The 
depopulated  fields  were  turned  into  grazing  lands,  to  the 
great  advantage  of  the  proprietors,  for  cattle  paid  better 
than  peasant  agriculture. 

Fenian  Outbreaks.  —  Ireland  seemed  silenced,  but  her 
cause  was  urged  with  redoubled  energy  by  her  loyal  sons 
in  America.  The  Fenians,  as  this  Irish-American  party  was 
called,  did  not  stop  at  repeal  of  the  Union.  They  advo- 
cated nothing  less  than  complete  separation.  An  attempt 
was  made  (1867)  to  get  possession  of  the  arsenals  in  Ireland 
and  to  carry  the  war  across  St.  George's  Channel,  but  every 
plot  was  frustrated.  Fenianism,  however,  effected  an  im- 
portant change  in  English  opinion.  It  had  become  ap- 
parent, even  to  partisan  observers,  that  conditions  giving 
rise  to  such  persistent  hatred  must  be  seriously  wrong. 

Gladstone's  Irish  Policy.  —  The  Liberal  party,  led  by 
Gladstone,  accepted  the  task  of  ascertaining  the  actual  situa- 
tion and  endeavoring  to  meet  Irish  discontent  with  adequate 
measures  of  relief.  In  pursuance  of  this  policy  the  Liberal 
leaders  proposed  three  successive  reforms ;  the  disestablish- 
ment of  the  English  Church  in  Ireland,  the  modification  of 
land  laws  in  the  interest  of  the  tenant,  and  the  restoration 
of  the  Irish  legislature.  The  initial  measure  was  introduced 
by  Gladstone  in  the  first  Parliament  elected  on  the  reformed 
basis  in  1868.  The  Liberals  were  in  the  ascendant,  and  the 
bill  passed  the  Commons  by  a  majority  of  one  hundred. 
Indeed,  it  was  difficult  to  find  ground  for  defence  of  the 
Episcopal  establishment  in  Ireland.  The  exclusive  privi- 
leges of  the  Anglican  Church  were  a  direct  affront  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  population,  obliged  to  contribute  directly 
or  indirectly  to  its  support.  Its  annual  income  from  tithes 
and  ecclesiastical  lands  was  ^^600,000,  yet  it  ministered  to 

1  Population  of  Ireland  in  1841,  8,175,124;  in  1851,6,552,385;  in  1901, 
4,443,370. 


Gladstone' s  English  Policy  439 

not  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  people.  An  Irish  member 
declared  that  he  paid  tithes  in  eight  parishes,  in  not  one  of 
which  was  there  a  church  or  a  resident  clergyman.  The 
bill  was,  nevertheless,  hotly  debated  in  the  House  of  Lords 
and  amended  so  as  to  secure  larger  compensation  to  the 
disestablished  clergy.  The  House  of  Commons  insisted  on 
the  original  form,  and  the  Lords  were  forced  to  accept  a 
compromise  not  at  all  to  their  liking. 

The  disestablishment  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  Ireland^  Land  Act  of 
was  quickly  followed  by  the  Land  Act,  which  provided  that   ^^70. 
the  so-called  "Ulster  right,"  ^  the  form  of  land-tenure  custom- 
ary in  the  northern  counties,  should  be  legal  throughout  Ire- 
land.    The  measure  proposed  to  secure  the  three  "  f's,"  fair   Oman, 
rent,  fixity  of  tenure,  and  free  sale  of  the  tenants'  interest  in   164-165. 
improvements.    The  government  was  further  pledged  to  loan 
money  to  peasants  desiring  to  purchase  the  land  they  tilled. 

In  the  bill  proposing  the  reconstitution  of  Dublin  Uni- 
versity, Mr.  Gladstone  went  a  step  too  far  and  lost  his  par- 
liamentary majority.  The  object  of  the  measure  was  to 
remove  religious  tests,  and  so  provide  a  non- sectarian  edu- 
cation for  all  who  desired  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  It  was 
opposed  by  the  priests,  who  objected  to  secular  education, 
and  by  a  large  body  of  Liberals,  who  dreaded  Roman 
Catholic  ascendency.  Defeated  on  these  grounds,  Glad- 
stone dissolved  Parliament  and  appealed  to  the  country. 
The  elections  of  1874  gave  the  Conservatives  a  majority  of 
fifty,  and  Gladstone  had  no  choice  but  to  resign. 

Gladstone's  English  Policy.  —  This  sudden  and  over- 
whelming defeat  of  a  reform  ministry  so  soon  after  the 
extension  of  the  suffrage,  seems  at  first  inexplicable.  Glad- 
stone's government  had  fulfilled  all  its  pledges.  In  addition 
to  the  legislation  having  special  reference  to  Ireland,  Par- 
liament had  provided  for  elementary  education  and  a  secret 
ballot,  opened  the  civil  service  to  public  competition,  abol- 

1  The  custom  in  Ulster  allowed  the  tenant  to  remain  in  possession,  even 
without  written  contract,  so  long  as  he  paid  his  rent,  and  when  the  holding 
was  transferred  to  receive  compensation  for  improvements, 


440 


TJie  GrowtJi  of  Democracy 


ished  religious  tests  in  English  universities,  put  an  end  to 
the  purchase  of  commissions  in  the  army,  and  introduced  a 
bill  for  the  reform  of  the  law  courts.     The  reaction  in  favor 


of  the  Conservatives  had  originated,  not  in  the  failure  of  the 
Liberal  party  to  achieve  the  proposed  reforms,  but  in  the 


Lor-d  Beaconsfield' s  Government  441 

constitutional  inability  of  the  English  people  to  digest  so 
rich  and  varied  a  menu.  Reform  had  gone  too  fast  and  too 
far.  The  national  temper,  essentially  conservative,  shrank 
from  so  rapid  a  change.  Disraeli's  denunciation  of  Glad- 
stone's policy  expressed  the  sentiment  of  the  country.  "  You 
have  had  four  years  of  it ;  you  have  despoiled  churches,  you 
have  threatened  every  corporation  and  endowment  in  the 
country,  you  have  examined  into  everybody's  affairs,  you 
have  criticised  every  profession,  and  vexed  every  trade  ;  no 
one  is  certain  of  his  property,  no  one  knows  what  duties 
he  may  have  to  perform  to-morrow."  Furthermore  the  Lib- 
eral government,  in  its  zeal  for  domestic  improvement,  had 
somewhat  neglected  foreign  affairs.  In  India  and  in  Africa 
English  interests  were  threatened,  and  the  government,  pre- 
ferring negotiation  to  war,  had  pursued  a  policy  repugnant 
to  the  national  pride. 

Lord  Beaconsfield's  Government.  —  Disraeli^  succeeded  to 
the  premiership  in  1874,  pledged  to  maintain  the  existing 
order  at  home,  and  to  vindicate  the  national  honor  in  foreign 
fields.     The  Russo-Turkish  War  (1877-187S)  gave  the  gov- 
ernment an  opportunity  to  show  its  aggressive  foreign  policy. 
It  was  the  old  question  in  a  new  phase.     The  Christian  sub-   Oman, 
jects  of  the  Sultan  had  risen  in  revolt,  and  Russia,  ever  on   173-176- 
the  alert  for  opportunity  to   interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Porte,  sent  troops  to  their  aid.     The  Sultan  made  what  re- 
sistance he  might,  but  he  had  not   the  Hmitless  resources 
of  the  Czar.     The  Russian  army  seized  the  Turkish  strong- 
holds in  Bulgaria,  crossed  the  Balkans,  and  advanced  to  the 
environs  of  Constantinople.     Then  the  English  government 
intervened,  sending  men-of-war  to  make  a  demonstration  in 
the  Sea  of  Marmora.     Open  hostility  seemed  inevitable,  but 
Alexander  II  gave  assurance  that  the   occupation  of  Con- 
stantinople was  not  intended.     At  the  instance  of  Austria,  a 
conference  of  the  European  powers  was  convened  at  Berlin   Berlin 
to  settle  the  points  in  dispute,  and  there  Beaconsfield  played   Congress, 
a  leading  role.      England's  traditional  Eastern  policy  was 

1  Disraeli  was  created  Earl  of  Beaconsfield  in  1877. 


442  The  GrowtJi  of  Deniocrcicy 

once  more  triumphant.  The  Russian  advance  was  checked, 
Bulgaria  was  promised  independence,  while  the  Christian 
province  of  Rumelia  was  restored  to  the  Sultan,  who  made 
worthless  promises  of  good  government. 

The  sacrifice  of  the  Christian  populations  of  Turkey  to 
England's  Oriental  interests  had  been  strenuously  protested 
by  (Gladstone  and  the  Liberals,  but  Beaconsfield  had  a  great 
majority  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  could  rely  on  the 
unflinching  support  of  the  Tories.  In  a  secret  treaty  with 
the  Porte,  he  went  so  far  as  to  undertake,  in  return  for  the 
cession  of  Cyprus,  to  protect  the  Turkish  dominions  against 
all  intruders.  England  thus  gained  a  foothold  in  the  eastern 
Mediterranean,  and  became  responsible  for  the  Sultan's  mis- 
deeds.    She  has  had  reason  to  blush  for  her  prot(§ge. 

India.  — The  imperialist  policy  of  Lord  Beaconsfield  found 
congenial  employ  in  East  India.  Queen  Victoria  was  pro- 
claimed Empress  of  India  in  1878,  and  measures  were  taken 
to  render  the  government  of  that  vast  dependency  more 
effective  and  beneficent.  A  disastrous  famine  had  devas- 
tated the  country  in  1877-1878  and  the  government  began  to 
realize  the  necessity,  not  only  of  providing  systematic  rehef, 
but  of  combating  the  ever  recurring  droughts.  Railroads 
and  other  means  of  transportation  were  developed,  in  order 
that  grain  might  be  carried  to  the  districts  where  crops  had 
failed.  Irrigating  canals  were  constructed  to  convey  the 
superfluous  water  of  the  mountains  to  the  regions  of  insuffi- 
cient rainfall.  So  far  as  possible,  employment  on  these 
public  works  was  made  to  take  the  place  of  doles  in  money 
or  food.  These  measures  have  gone  far  toward  rendering 
India  a  prosperous  and  self-supporting  country. 

Domestic  Legislation.  —  In  relation  to  internal  affairs,  Bea- 
consfield's  government  was  less  successful.  The  Conserva- 
tive party  expressed  a  benevolent  concern  for  the  well-being 
of  the  laborer,  and  certain  members  showed  a  strong  dispo- 
sition to  legislate  in  the  direction  of  technical  schools,  public 
provision  for  recreation,  artisans'  dwellings,  an  eight-hour 
day,  etc. ;  but  the  government  was  resolved  to  move  slowly. 


The  Irish  Nationalists  443 

and  little  was  accomplished  beyond  an  Agricultural  Holdings 
Act  (1875),  which  secured  compensation  for  improvements 
to  English  tenants,  and  the  Labourers'  Dwellings'  Act  (1875), 
empowering  town  corporations  to  purchase  land  and  erect 
buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  workmen's  families. 

Agitation  for  Home  Rule. — Toward  Irish  discontent  the 
government  showed  an  uncompromising  severity.  The  recent 
reforms,  liberal  and  well  meaning  though  they  were,  had  ap- 
parently not  reached  the  root  of  the  difficulty.  Agitation  in- 
creased with  every  concession.  Hardly  had  Gladstone's  land 
bill  become  law  when  the  Irish  party,  under  the  lead  of  Isaac 
Butt,  brought  forward  the  demand  for  home  rule.  The  new 
leader  declared  that  Ireland  could  no  longer  consent  to  receive 
her  laws  at  the  hands  of  a  Parliament,  the  great  majority  of 
whose  members  were  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen.  The 
advocates  of  home  rule  proposed,  not  the  repeal  of  the  Union, 
not  separation,  but  an  independent  legislature,  retaining  re- 
lations to  the  British  Parliament  such  as  in  America  the  state 
legislature  bears  to  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

The  Irish  Nationalists.  —  Controlling  but  a  small  mi- 
nority, fifty  or  sixty  members,  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
the  Nationalist  party  remained  in  sulky  isolation  until  Par- 
nell  taught  them  how  to  compel  attention.  Charles  Stewart 
Parnell,  a  man  of  cool  head  and  steady  nerve  and  an  expert 
parliamentarian,  succeeded  Butt  in  the  leadership  in  1877. 
His  policy  was,  in  one  word,  obstruction.  The  House  of 
Commons  was  to  be  hindered  in  the  prosecution  of  any  and 
every  measure  until  Irish  interests  were  considered.  By 
moving  amendments  and  forcing  divisions,  by  making  inter- 
minable speeches  and  dragging  in  irrelevant  issues,  the 
ordinary  course  of  business  was  effectually  checked.  In 
despair  of  getting  anything  done,  the  government  resorted 
to  extreme  measures.  Parnell  and  other  unruly  members 
were  censured  by  the  House,  and  rules  were  adopted  en- 
abling the  speaker  to  silence  an  obstinate  minority.^     Never- 

1  E.g.  the  closure,  a  method  of  cutting  off  debate  by  calling  for  the  pre- 
vious question. 


444  ^/^^  Growth  of  Donocracy 

theless,  the  obstructionists  succeeded  so  far  as  to  bring  upon 
the  government  the  charge  of  timid  inefficiency. 

Gladstone  again.  —  Parhament  was  dissolved  and  new 
elections  were  held  in  the  spring  of  1880.^  Beaconsfield 
appealed  to  the  country  for  support  on  the  ground  that  the 
Conservative  party  alone  could  be  trusted  to  maintain  Eng- 
land's ascendency  in  the  councils  of  Europe  and  to  defend 
the  empire  against  threatening  disintegration.  The  Liljeral 
platform,  on  the  other  hand,  announced  an  "  anti-jingo " 
foreign  policy,- progressive  domestic  legislation,  redress  for 
Irish  grievances,  but  firm  and  consistent  resistance  to  home 
rule.  The  election  results  showed  that  the  tide  had  turned. 
The  Liberals  secured  a  clear  majority  of  fifty-five,  and  Glad- 
stone was  free  to  inaugurate  a  programme  of  reform.  Cam- 
paign pledges  were  redeemed  in  the  Irish  Land  Act  (1881), 
which  provided  that  rents  should  be  determined  by  land 
Oman  courts,    and    in    the    Reform  Act   (1884)   which    extended 

183-185.  the  suffrage  to  the  agricultural  laborers.     The  county  fran- 

chise was  now  made  identical  with  that  of  the  borough,  and 
adult  males  ]:»aying  ;^io  annual  room  or  house  rent  were 
intrusted  with  the  ballot.  The  manhood  suffrage  demanded 
by  the  Chartists  was  thus  practically  secured."  Another  of 
the  "  six  points,"  equal  electoral  districts,  was  attained  in  the 
year  following.  Counties  and  boroughs  were  divided  into 
election  divisions  containing  from  fifty  thousand  to  sixty 
thousand  voters  each.  Every  such  district  returns  one 
member  to  the  House  of  Commons. 

Gladstone's  Foreign  Policy.  —  The  Liberals  had  amply  ful- 
filled their  promises  of  internal  reform,  but  they  failed  a 
second  time  to  meet  the  approval  of  the  people  in  the  con- 
duct of  imperial  affairs.  Cape  Colony,  the  distant  province 
ceded  by  Holland  at  the  peace  of  Vienna,  had  developed 
possibilities  quite  unforeseen  in  18 15.     Wide  grazing  lands, 

1  Result  of  the  elections  of  1880:  Liberals,  355;  Conservatives,  238; 
Nationalists,  62. 

2  Four-fifths  of  the  five  million  voters  in  the  United  Kingdom  are  quali- 
fied as  householders. 


BORMAY  ii  CO.,ENSfl'S,N.Y. 


A   Coalition  Cabinet  445 

diamond  fields,  and  promising  gold  deposits  attracted  Eng- 
lish immigrants  and  English  capital,  and  led  to  the  rapid 
extension  of  British  control.  Natal  was  annexed  in  1843, 
Bechuanaland  in  1867,  and  the  Transvaal  in  1877.  The 
English  advance  was  disputed  by  the  native  Kaffirs  and  by 
the  Boers,  descendants  of  the  original  Dutch  colonists.  The 
menace  of  Kaffir  wars  terminated  with  the  subjection  of  the 
Zulus  (1879),  but  the  Boers  protested  the  validity  of  the 
annexing  proclamation,  took  up  arms  in  defence  of  their 
independence,  and  at  Majuba  Hill  (1880)  won  a  signal 
victory.  While  yet  in  opposition  Gladstone  had  con- 
demned the  annexation  project.  In  office,  he  refused  to 
prosecute  the  war  and  concluded  the  Pretoria  Convention 
(1881),  granting  the  Transvaal  "complete  self-government 
subject  to  the  suzerainty  of  Her  Majesty." 

A  more  patent  cause  of  grievance  was  the  abandonment 
of  the  Soudan.  Under  Beaconsfield's  administration  Eng- 
land had  undertaken  to  regulate  the  finances  of  Egypt,  and  Oman, 
thenceforth  the  queen's  ministers  became  responsible  for  ^71-172, 
the  Khedive's  government.  The  perplexing  and  uncon-  °~^  ^' 
genial  task  was  assumed  by  the  Liberal  Cabinet  with  an  ill 
grace.  When  the  Mahdist  revolt  broke  out  in  the  Soudan, 
Gladstone  judged  the  bankrupt  Egyptian  treasury  quite  in- 
adequate to  the  task  of  reconquest  and  determined  to  with- 
draw from  the  district.  General  Gordon  was  sent  out  to 
recover  the  Egyptian  garrisons.  Unhappily  he  and  his  little 
force  were  surrounded  at  Khartoum  and  cut  to  pieces.  The 
massacre  touched  the  martial  pride  of  England  and  roused 
an  angry  protest  against  the  milk-and-water  methods  of  the 
government.  A  vote  of  censure  on  the  Egyptian  policy 
failed  by  fourteen  votes,  but  in  June  of  1885  the  Ministry 
was  defeated  on  an  amendment  to  the  budget. 

A  Coalition  Cabinet.  —  Lord  Salisbury  was  called  to  form 
a  ministry,  but  the  Conservatives  were  not  strong  enough  to 
hold  their  own  unaided.  Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  the 
leader  of  the  "  fourth  party,"  as  the  progressive  Tories  were 
called,  was  summoned  to  the  Cabinet.     The  Conservative 


446  TJie  Grozvth  of  Democracy 

party  ^yas  thus  committed  to  various  projects  for  social 
and  industrial  improvement  little  akin  to  its  former  policy. 
Churchill,  furthermore,  negotiated  an  alliance  with  the  Na- 
tionalists, who  were  ready  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  any  party 
that  showed  an  inclination  to  concede  home  rule.  Thus, 
by  currying  favor  with  Tory  reformers  and  with  the  Irish 
party,  the  government  was  enabled  to  control  a  majority  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  but  little  important  business  was 
put  through.  Both  parties  were  making  ready  for  a  critical 
campaign. 

The  Elections  of  1885.  —  In  the  coming  elections,  the 
agricultural  laborers  were  to  cast  their  first  ballots,  and  no 
man  could  surmise  how  their  vote  would  affect  the  political 
future.  The  Conservatives  relied  on  the  influence  of  the 
clergy  and  the  landed  gentry  to  keep  the  rustics  under  party 
control,  but  the  opposition  candidates  drew  glowing  pictures 
of  the  benefits  to  be  expected  of  a  Liberal  administration. 
Land  allotments,  free  schools,  local  self-government,  dises- 
tablishment of  the  Scotch  and  Welsh  churches,  these  and 
other  legislative  tidbits,  Gladstone's  more  radical  followers 
did  not  hesitate  to  offer.  The  unnatural  alliance  between 
Conservatives  and  home  rulers  was  maintained  throughout 
the  campaign.  Parnell  instructed  his  party  to  vote  for  a 
Conservative  wherever  there  was  no  Nationalist  candidate. 
The  result  of  the  elections  abundantly  justified  his  tactics. 
The  Liberals  secured  T^^iZ  seats,  the  Conservatives  251,  but 
Ireland  outside  of  Ulster  went  solid  for  home  rule.  Parnell 
could  count  on  86  members,  and  could  by  uniting  forces 
with  the  Ministry  enable  them  to  outvote  the  Liberals.  He 
had,  therefore,  the  balance  of  power  in  his  hands,  and  was 
in  a  position  to  extort  concessions.  Gladstone  was  directly 
converted  to  home  rule.  The  result  of  the  elections  was  no 
sooner  known  than  he  issued  a  manifesto  favoring  the 
Nationalist  claims.  The  opportunity  to  introduce  a  home 
rule  bill  was  soon  vouchsafed  him.  In  an  amendment  to 
the  address,  Salisbury's  government  was  defeated  by  a  vote 
of  329  to  258.     Nationalists  and  Radicals  voted  with  the 


Gladstojie  and  Home  Rule 


447 


Opposition,  while  the  protesting  Liberals  went  over  to  the 
Conservative  benches. 

Gladstone  and  Home  Rule.  —  The  Liberal  Cabinet  intro- 
duced two  measures  calculated  to  meet  the  demand  of  the 
Nationalists  for  economic  and  political  reform.  The  Land 
Purchase  xAct  (1885)  appropriated  ^50,000,000  as  a  loan 
fund  to  enable  tenants  to  buy  their  holdings.  The  provi- 
sions of  this  law  were  much  more  favorable  to  the  tenant 
than  that  of  1870,  and  the  measure  went  far  toward  the 
solution  of  the  agrarian  question. 

The  Home  Rule  Bill  provided  for  the  establishment  in 
Ireland  of  a  separate  executive  government,  solely  respon- 
sible to  a  legislature  sitting  in  Dublin  and  empowered  to 
deal  with  Irish  affairs  so  far  as  they  did  not  affect  imperial 
interests.  Irish  representation  in  the  British  Parliament  was 
to  be  discontinued. 

This  complete  surrender  to  the  demands  of  the  Nationalist 
faction  roused  intense  indignation  througliout  England. 
Not  even  such  popularity  as  Gladstone's  could  survive  the 
storm  of  abuse  heaped  upon  the  author  of  this  "  scheme  of 
disintegration."  The  "  grand  old  man  "  was  denounced  as 
a  political  turncoat,  a  traitor  to  his  party  and  to  his  country. 
His  change  of  front  was  no  more  reprehensible  than  Peel's 
desertion  of  the  Corn  Laws  in  1846,  but  home  rule  was  an 
issue  even  more  contentious  than  protection,  since  it  involved 
race  feeling.  The  breach  occasioned  in  the  Liberal  party 
was  deep  and  irreparable.  The  seceders,  under  the  lead  of 
Lord  Hartington  and  Mr.  Goschen  (Whigs),  Joseph  Cham- 
berlain and  John  Bright  (Radicals),  called  themselves  Liberal 
Unionists  and  joined  forces  with  the  Conservatives  on  the 
Irish  question. 

With  ranks  so  depleted  Gladstone  could  not  carry  his 
measure,  and  the  Home  Rule  Bill  was  lost,  311  votes  for  to 
341  against.  The  only  chance  of  success  was  an  appeal  to 
the  country.  In  the  elections  of  July,  1886,  the  Conserva- 
tives had  an  easy  victory  in  the  English  constituencies,  but 
Ireland,  Scotland,  and  Wales  stood  loyally  by  Gladstone  and 


Land 

Purchase 

Act, 


Home  Rule 
Bill,  1886. 

Oman, 
186-190. 


The  Defeat 
of  Home 
Rule. 


448  Tlic  Grozvih  of  DcDwcracy 

home  rule.'  Tlie  Conservatives  returned  316  members,  the 
Liberal  Unionists  74,  the  Gladstone  Liberals  196,  the  Par- 
nellites  84.  The  defeat  was  so  decisive  that  Gladstone 
resigned,  and  Salisbury  was  summoned  to  form  a  ministry 
before  Parliament  met. 

Reaction.  —  In  the  autumn  of  18S6  the  Conservatives 
entered  upon  a  long  lease  of  power.  The  six  years  of  their 
administration  were  marked  by  no  legislation  of  first  impor- 
tance except  the  Local  Government  Act  (1888).  By  this 
measure,  the  anti-home-rule  Ministry  met  the  demand  for 
local  self-government  in  England,  Wales,  and  Scotland "  by 
establishing  county  councils  elected  by  the  freeholders  and 
responsible  each  for  the  affairs  of  its  own  district. 

The  summary  rejection  of  home  rule  occasioned  a  series 
of  riotous  outbreaks  in  Ireland  which  the  government  put 
down  with  a  strong  hand.  The  Irish  leaders  now  organized 
the  National  League  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  the  agi- 
tation and  of  affording  relief  to  tenants  who  refused  to  pay 
exorbitant  rents.  By  the  "plan  of  campaign"  evicted 
farmers  were  to  be  supjDorted  out  of  a  common  fund  pro- 
vided by  the  League. 

English  Discontent.  —  The  land  question  was  not  peculiar 
to  Ireland.  A  steady  fall  in  the  price  of  food  products, 
consequent  on  increased  importations  of  grain,  had  reduced 
the  profits  of  agriculture  and  occasioned  general  discontent 
among  rent-paying  farmers  in  Scotland  and  England.  Salis- 
bury's government  found  itself  obliged  to  extend  the  pro- 
visions of  1885  by  which  the  Liberals  had  assisted  Irish' 
tenants  to  purchase  land,  to  scale  down  the  customary 
rents  paid  by  the  Scotch  crofters  to  one-half,  and  grudgingly 
to  afford  English  farm-laborers  opportunity  to  buy  allot- 
ments of  land. 

Not  only  from  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  but  from  the  working- 
class  element  of  the    cities    and   towns   came    the    urgent 

1  The  proportion  voting  in  favor  of  home  rule  was :  in  Ireland,  4I 
to  I ;  in  Scotland,  3  to  i ;  in  Wales,  5  to  i. 

2  The  Local  Government  Act  for  Scotland  was  passed  in  1889. 


Elections  of  1892  449 

demand  for  redress  of  grievances.  A  convention  of  the  un- 
employed was  held  in  Trafalgar  Square  (November  13,  1887) 
to  protest  against  the  industrial  order  that  gave  them  no 
opportunity  to  earn  a  livelihood.  A  great  strike  of  the  dock 
laborers  of  London  and  Hull  brought  to  public  attention  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  "casual"  hands  at  the  shipping 
centres.  John  Burns,  a  machinist  of  Battersea,  championed 
these  unskilled  laborers  and  taught  them  how  to  form  an 
effective  trade-union. 

A  new  element  was  coming  to  the  front  to  urge  social 
and  industrial  rather  than  political  reforms.  The  Independ- 
ent Labour  Party  held  that  the  State  should  interfere  to 
secure  a  fair  chance  to  the  wage-earner.  Propositions  for 
a  living  wage,  for  an  eight-hour  day,  for  free  primary  educa- 
tion, for  putting  land  at  the  disposal  of  the  people,  were 
brought  forward  by  the  working-class  leaders,  but  a  Con- 
servative government  could  hardly  be  expected  to  give  them 
sympathetic  treatment.  The  pageant  of  the  Queen's  Jubi- 
lee (1887),  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Victoria's  coronation, 
brought  into  marked  relief  the  misery  of  the  "  submerged 
tenth  "  of  the  population. 

Elections  of  1892. — Under  the  influence  of  the  various 
hostile  critics,  the  ministerial  ranks  thinned,  until  Salisbury 
could  no  longer  be  sure  of  his  majority  and  dissolved  Par- 
liament. The  election  returns  of  June,  1892,  reversed  the 
verdict  given  in  1886.  Gladstonians  and  Nationalists  com- 
bined could  boast  a  majority  of  forty-two,^  and  the  Con- 
servative government  was  readily  defeated  by  an  amendment 
to  the  address.  A  revised  Home  Rule  Bill  passed  the  House 
of  Commons  by  a  vote  of  347  to  304,  in  spite  of  dissensions  oman, 
in  the  Nationalist  ranks  and  the  strenuous  opposition  of  the  198-199- 
majority  of  the  English  members.  In  the  LIpper  House, 
however,  it  met  with  overwhelming  defeat.  Since  Lord 
Grey  forced  the  first  reform  bill  through  the  House  of 
Lords,  that  body  had  not  ventured  to    reject   a   measure 

1  Election  returns,  1892:    Gladstonians,   271;    Nationalists,  81;     Labor 
Party,  4;  Conservatives,  268  ;  Liberal  Unionists,  46. 
2G 


450  The  Growth  of  Democracy 

sent  up  from  the  House  of  Commons,  and  indorsed  by  pop- 
ular support.  It  was  generally  supposed  that  its  veto  power, 
like  that  of  the  crown,  had  passed  out  of  use.  To  the  scan- 
dal of  all  Radicals,  this  measure,  which  had  been  approved 
by  a  majority  of  203,014  votes  in  the  recent  elections,  was 
rejected  by  a  body  of  600  men  who  could  lay  no  claim  to 
voice  the  will  of  the  nation.  Unionists  argued  in  their  de- 
fence that  this  ancient  prerogative  might  be  exercised  in  a  case 
where  an  extra-constitutional  measure  was  in  question.  The 
Lords,  it  was  said,  would  never  undertake  to  interfere  in  the 
course  of  ordinary  legislation.  But  the  Upper  House,  led 
by  Lord  Salisbury,  plucked  up  courage  to  defeat  other  Lib- 
eral projects,  e.g.  the  Employers'  Liability  Bill,  and  that 
provision  of  the  Parish  Councils  Bill  intrusting  the  local 
authorities  with  power  to  purchase  land  for  sale  in  laborers' 
allotments. 

Agitation  against  the  House  of  Lords.  —  Radicals  had  iox 
years  been  protesting  that  the  House  of  Lords  was  an  an- 
achronism —  a  clog  on  the  wheels  of  progress ;  but  while 
that  body  was  content  to  amuSe  itself  by  ratifying  the  bills 
passed  in  the  Lower  House,  its  abolition  had  never  been 
seriously  considered.  Certain  measures  of  reform,  it  is  true, 
had  been  proposed  by  Liberal  peers,  such  as  the  raising  of 
the  quorum  ^  and  the  unseating  of  absentee  members.  Now 
obstruction  of  popular  projects  laid  them  open  to  direct 
attack.  Mr.  Labouchere,  the  inveterate  foe  of  hereditary 
privilege,  introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons  a  reso- 
lution stating  that  "  the  power  now  enjoyed  by  persons  who 
were  not  elected  to  Parliament  by  the  usual  process  of 
franchise,  yet  who  are  able  to  prevent  tlie  passage  of  bills, 
shall  cease."  The  proposition  had  not  been  foreseen,  and 
half  the  members  were  absent.  To  the  surprise  and  amuse- 
ment of  the  House,  it  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  147  to  145. 
The  leaders  of  the  Liberal  party  had  expressed  the  convic- 
tion that  the  House  of  Lords  must  be  reformed  if  it  was  to 
remain  a  part  of  the  English  constitution,  but  the  govern- 

1  Three  is  the  present  quorum  in  a  membership  of  600. 


Gladstone 


Salisbury's  Domestic  Policy  451 

ment   could   hardly   adopt   so    hasty  and    ill-considered   a 
measure,  and  it  was  allowed  to  drop. 

Retirement  of  Gladstone.  —  On  March  3,  1894,  Gladstone 
resigned  the  premiership  and  retired  from  public  life.  He 
was  eighty-five  years  of  age,  and  might  well  plead  exemp- 
tion from  the  cares  of  office,  but  it  is  probable  that  the 
failure  of  the  Irish  legislation  on  which  he  had  set  his  heart 
determined  the  final  withdrawal.  Lord  Rosebery,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  the  head  of  the  government  and  to  the  leader- 
ship of  the  Liberal  party,  was  a  man  of  far  less  magnetism 
and  force.  Moreover,  as  a  peer,  he  was  excluded  from  the 
House  of  Commons  and  unable  to  take  part  in  its  debates. 
He  was  successful,  however,  in  rallying  to  his  support  the 
best  elements  of  his  party. 

The  new  Liberal  leader  proposed  a  formidable  list  of 
reforms.  The  constitution  of  the  House  of  Lords  was  to  be 
revised,  the  Welsh  Church  was  to  be  disestabhshed,  factory 
laws  were  to  be  amended  in  the  interest  of  sanitation  and 
safety,  the  Irish  land  laws  were  to  be  improved,  but  there 
was  no  mention  of  home  rule.  An  unhappy  split  in  the 
Nationalist  party,  the  death  of  Parnell  (1891),  and  the 
retirement  of  Gladstone  had  ruined  that  well- fought  cause. 
Lord  Rosebery  declared  that  so  long  as  England,  "  the  pre- 
dominant partner,"  was  clearly  opposed  to  home  rule,  that 
question  rnust  be  relegated  to  the  future.  Antagonized  by 
delay  in  Irish  legislation,  the  Nationalists  withdrew  their 
support,  lukewarm  Liberals  and  malcontent  Radicals  de- 
serted the  government.  On  a  vote  to  reduce  the  salary  of 
the  secretary  of  war,  Rosebery  lost  his  majority  and  resigned 
(June,  1895). 

Salisbury's  Domestic  Policy.  —  Lord  Salisbury  undertook 
the  premiership,  but  his  following  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons was  inadequate  for  the  prosecution  of  business.  In 
July,  1895,  he  dissolved  Parliament  and  called  for  new 
elections.  The  Liberals  conducted  a  vigorous  campaign,  a 
home  rule  plank  was  added  to  the  Rosebery  platform,  and  Whates, 
other  bids  for  popular  favor  were  introduced  —  all  to  no   ^~^^' 


452 


TJie  GrowtJi  of  Democracy 


avail.  The  party  was  overwhelmingly  defeated  at  the  polls. 
They  secured  only  177  seats  against  411  won  by  the  Con- 
servatives. The  Unionists  could  boast  71  members  in  the 
new  House  and  were  accorded  representation  in  the  Cabinet 
in  the  person  of  Joseph  Chamberlain,  secretary  for  the 
colonies.  So  supported,  the  government  could  afford  to  dis- 
pense with  the  Nationalist  vote  ;  Arthur  Balfour,  Lord  Salis- 


Balfour's 

Irish 

Reforms. 


Joseph  Chamberlain 

bury's  talented  nephew,  was  appointed  secretary  for  Ireland, 
and  he  undertook  to  "kill  home  rule  with  kindness."  The 
Irish  Land  Act,  intended  to  facilitate  the  purchase  of  farms 
by  the  peasantry,  was  forced  through  the  Upper  House 
against  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  Irish  peers.  The  Local 
Government  for  Ireland  Act  established  the  county  council 
form  of  self-government  already  in  successful  operation  in 
England,  Wales,  and  Scotland.  The  Irish  members  accepted 
this  concession  with  grudging  gratitude,  declaring  that  it  was 
not  a  satisfactory  substitute  for  home  rule. 


The  Eastern   Question  in  a  New  Phase      453 


Abortive 

Reform 

measures. 


Their  campaign  pledges  committed  the  Conservatives  to 
a  long  list  of  social  reforms,  employers'  liability  for  acci- 
dents, arbitration  of  labor  disputes,  old  age  pensions,  free 
elementary  education,  etc.,  but  once  in  power  their  reform 
ardor  cooled.  The  inevitable  inertia  of  a  Parliament  domi- 
nated by  the  land-owning  and  capitalist  classes,  the  access 
of  prosperity  that  gave  employment  to  all  at  rising  wages 
and  temporarily  silenced  social  discontent,  preoccupation 
in  unforeseen  foreign  and  colonial  difficulties,  sufficiently 
account  for  the  failure  of  Lord  Salisbury's  cabinet  to  re- 
deem its  election  pledges.  Some  halting  measures  of 
reform  were  nevertheless  achieved.  The  Workmen's  Com- 
pensation for  Accident  Act  did  not  extend  to  seamen,  and 
contained  a  contracting-out  clause  that  largely  nullified  its 
operation.  The  Coal  Mines  Regulation  Act  has  proved  in- 
adequate to  guard  miners  against  danger  from  fire  and  ex- 
plosions. Arbitration  under  the  auspices  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  was  made  permissible,  but  not  compulsory.  The 
Small  Dwellings  Acquisition  Act  was  but  the  half-hearted 
beginning  of  an  important  movement  toward  putting  the 
laborer  in  possession  of  his  home.  The  Agricultural  Land 
Rating  Act  reduced  tlie  government's  revenue  from  land  at 
the  expense  of  urban  tax-payers. 

The  Eastern  Question  in  a  New  Phase.  —  The  year  of  the 
Queen's  Diamond  Jubilee  found  Great  Britain  at  peace  with 
all  the  world,  but  unforeseen  events  soon  plunged  the  Min- 
istry into  a  series  of  foreign  complications  that  taxed  the 
utmost  ability  of  its  members  and  imposed  a  severe  strain 
upon  the  resources  of  the  Eaipire. 

The  Armenian  massacres  (1S96-1897)  shocked  the  moral  Whates, 
sense  of  Europe  and  attracted  renewed  attention  to  the  Bk.i.ch.  ill 
weakness  and  brutality  of  Turkish  rule.  The  Armenians 
cried  out  for  deliverance  from  political  and  religious  op- 
pression, but  the  European  powers,  notably  Germany  and 
Russia,  were  jealous  of  British  influence  in  the  East,  and 
England  could  not  act  alone.  A  concert  of  the  Powers  was 
formed  in  the  hope  of  compeUing  the  Sultan  to  maintain 


454 


The  Grozvth  of  Democracy 


Whates, 
Bk.  I.ch. 


IV. 


Whates, 
Bk.  Ill, 
ch.  IV,  V. 


order  and  protect  his  Christian  subjects,  but  the  govern- 
ments concerned  were  unable  to  agree  upon  a  plan  of 
coercion.  Their  evident  impotence  encouraged  the  Turks 
to  defiance,  and  the  massacres  were  renewed.  The  disorders 
spread  to  Crete,  wTiere  Moslems  and  Christians  were  soon 
engaged  in  a  life-and-death  struggle.  This  transference  of 
the  Eastern  Question  to  the  Mediterranean  roused  intense 
indignation  in  England,  but  diplomatic  considerations  for- 
bade Lord  Salisbury  to  intervene.  The  Greek  government 
was  less  cautious.  Impelled  by  the  ardent  enthusiasm  of 
the  populace  for  the  Cretan  cause,  the  king  sent  a  flotilla 
mider  Prince  George  to  Candia.  The  expulsion  of  the 
Turks  and  the  annexation  of  the  island  to  Greece  might 
have  been  accomplished  but  for  the  jealous  interference  of 
the  northern  powers.  After  two  years  of  diplomatic  hag- 
gling Crete  was  accorded  independence  of  Turkey  and  prac- 
tical autonomy,  Prince  George,  in  spite  of  Russian  protests, 
being  appointed  governor.  Peace  and  prosperity  were  thus 
restored  to  the  island,  and  its  Greek  inhabitants  were 
secured  political  and  religious  liberty. 

The  Armenians,  on  the  contrary,  were  abandoned  to  the 
Turk.  Thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children  fell  prey  to 
the  lawless  cruelty  of  the  Kurds ;  thousands  more  migrated 
to  America.  Salisbury's  policy  of  non-intervention  was 
bitterly  criticised  by  the  Liberal  minority  both  in  the  House 
and  out.  Protests  were  raised  even  in  Conservative  ranks 
on  the  ground  that  his  conduct  of  Eastern  affairs  had  been 
weak  and  vacillating.  The  situation  was  full  of  difficulties, 
however,  and  a  more  vigorous  policy  might  have  involved 
Great  Britain  in  a  European  war. 

Complications  in  the  Far  East.  —  England's  lucrative  trade 
relations  with  China  were  menaced  by  the  Boxer  rising 
(1900-1902).  The  European  legations  in  Pekin  were  at- 
tacked, and,  to  effect  their  rescue,  the  allied  forces  of  Eng- 
land, Germany,  and  the  United  States  took  possession  of  the 
city.  The  partition  of  the  Chinese  Empire  might  have 
followed    but    for  the   stand    taken   by    England    and    the 


TJie  Conquest  of  the  Soudan  455 

United  States.     Neither  power  desired  any  portion  of  Chi-   The  "  Open 
nese  territory,  but  both  urged  the  "open   door,"  or  free-   Door"  to 
dom  of  trade,  with  all  parts  of  the  Empire.     As  a  result    .    ^T^^^ 
of  this  policy,  the  empress  dowager  was  induced  to  open  all 
important  ports  to  foreign  trade,  to  grant  extensive  railway 
and  mining  concessions,  and  to  admit  European  steamers  to 
the  river  traffic. 

The  Conquest  of  the  Soudan.  —  The  battle  of  Adowa  (1896) 
in  which  an  Italian  army  met  with  overwhelming  defeat  at  the 
hands  of  Menelik,  king  of  Abyssinia,  reopened  the  question 
of  the  recovery  of  the  Soudan  to  Egypt.  Lord  Cromer,  Whates, 
the  English  governor-general,  was  persuaded  that  the  security  ^^-  ^^'' 
of  the  lower  Nile  was  menaced  by  the  growing  strength  •  ■  ■ 
of  the  Khalifa  and  the  fanaticism  of  his  Dervish  troops. 
Against  tlie  strenuous  protests  of  the  Opposition  and  with- 
out full  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  Conservatives  of  its 
ultimate  designs,  the  government  undertook  the  conquest  of 
the  Soudan.  In  June,  1S96,  Sir  Herbert  Kitchener  set  out 
on  his  victorious  march  up  the  Nile.  Dongola  was  reached 
in  September  and  Abdullah's  army  put  to  rout.  The  de- 
fence of  Lower  Egypt  was  thus  secured,  but  the  advance, 
in  spite  of  disclaimers  on  the  part  of  Lord  Salisbury,  was 
steadily  prosecuted.  The  extension  of  the  railroad  to 
Atbara  brought  the  Anglo-Egyptian  army  within  striking 
reach  of  Omdurman  and  Khartoum.  The  desert  men  fought 
with  fanatic  courage,  but  disciplined  troops  and  Maxim 
guns  gave  Kitchener  an  easy  victory.  Omdurman  was 
taken,  and  thus  after  thirteen  years  was  Gordon  avenged. 

This  brilliant  success  brought  England  to  the  verge  of  war 
with  France.     In  the  name  of  the  Khedive,  the  government   France 
laid  claim  to  the  valley  of  the  Nile  and  all  its  branches,  but   withdraws 
as    Kitchener's  gunboats  pushed  up  the  ^Vhite  Nile,  they    ^^^    ^^^  ' 
came  upon  a  French  outpost.     Marchand,  "an  emissary  of 
civilization,"  had  forced  his  way  through  from   Nigeria  and 
was  in  quiet  occupation  of  Fashoda.     Lord  Salisbury's  vigo- 
rous protest  induced  the  French  Cabinet  to  withdraw  the 
expedition,   and   their  untenable  claim  to  the  upper   Nile 
valley  was  abandoned. 


456  TJie  Groivth  of  Democracy 

In  Egypt  as  in  India,  the  English  occupation  has  been 
justified  by  good  government.  The  oppressive  rule  of  Turk 
and  Dervish  has  been  supplanted  by  an  administration  bent 
on  developing  the  resources  of  the  country.  By  compara- 
tively moderate  taxation,  Lord  Cromer  has  succeeded  in 
constructing  roads  and  schools,  railways  and  irrigation  canals, 
that  have  proven  of  enormous  benefit  to  the  peasant  popu- 
lation. 

The  Boer  "War.  —  The  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Rand  and 
the  consequent  investment  of  English  capital  in  the  Trans- 
vaal brought  the  question  of  the  status  of  that  country  again 
Whates,  to  the  front.     The  Dutch  government  treated  the  English 

Bk.  VI.  residents  as  foreigners,  denied  them  political  privileges,  and 

imposed  a  heavy  tribute  on  the  output  of  the  mines.  Cham- 
berlain, as  secretary  for  the  colonies,  undertook  to  put  an 
end  to  this  situation  by  reasserting  Britain's  suzerainty  over 
the  republic.  Negotiations  were  rendered  difficult  by  the 
impatience  of  the  Uitlanders.  A  conspiracy  was  formed  by 
the  mining  interests,  represented  by  Cecil  Rhodes  and  Alfred 
Beit,  to  unseat  the  Boer  government  through  an  UiUander 
Jameson's  insurrection.  Jameson's  attack  on  Johannesburg  failed  and 
Raid,  1896.  i-j-je  English  authorities  washed  their  hands  of  the  affair,  but 
the  natural  distrust  engendered  among  the  Boers  prejudiced 
the  question  of  the  franchise.  Chamberlain  proved  an 
untactful  diplomatist,  and  acted  throughout  on  the  assump- 
tion that  the  Boers  would  yield  to  coercion  without  appeal 
to  arms.  In  September,  1899,  President  Kruger  submitted 
the  Volksraad's  ultimatum,  the  franchise  to  Uidanders  who 
could  prove  five  years'  continuous  residence  and  ten  seats  in 
the  Volksraad  accorded  to  the  Rand,  on  condition  that  there 
should  be  no  farther  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  Trans- 
vaal and  that  the  question  of  suzerainty  be  submitted  to 
arbitration.  The  rejection  of  these  terms  was  answered  by 
the  declaration  of  war.  In  the  melancholy  conflict  that 
ensued,  the  resources  of  the  British  Empire  were  pitted 
against  the  Boer  Republic.  Troops  to  the  number  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  were  sent  to  South  Africa 


Endorsement  of  the  War  457 

to  conquer  the  territory  defended  by  seventy- five  thousand 
men.  The  cost '  in  money  and  in  human  life  was  twice  that 
of  the  Crimean  War,  and  the  revelations  of  incapacity  and 
maladministration  were  no  less  humiliating.  Englishmen 
found  a  solace  to  wounded  imperial  pride  in  the  outburst  of 
enthusiastic  loyalty  on  the  part  of  the  colonies.  Canada, 
Australia,  and  New  Zealand  sent  volunteer  troops  to  South 
Africa  to  aid  the  mother-country  in  her  extremity. 

The    death    of    Queen    Victoria    and    the    accession   of  Edward  VII, 
Edward  VII  took  place  at  the  darkest  period  of  the  war.    '901. 
The  king  was    determined  that  peace  should  be  declared 
before  the  coronation  ceremony,  but  the  negotiations  failed. 

Endorsement  of  the  War.  —  Criticisms  of  the  govern- 
ment's policy  grew  so  insistent  that,  in  190T,  Salisbury  dis- 
solved Parliament  and  appealed  to  the  country  for  a  judgment. 
The  returns  were  highly  encouraging.  The  Conservatives 
carried  334  seats  and  the  Unionists  68.  The  Opposition 
forces  secured  but  268  seats,  82  of  which  belonged  to  the 
Nationalists.  The  Liberal  party  was  divided  between  dis- 
approval of  the  war  and  desire  to  stand  by  England  in  her 
heavy  task ;  but  the  Irish  party  was  hampered  by  no  such 
scruples.  They  made  the  cause  of  the  Boers  their  own,  and 
under  the  vigorous  leadership  of  John  Redmond  were  able 
once  more  to  rally  their  full  fighting  strength  in  the  House 
of  Commons. 

Reassured  as  to  parliamentary  support,  the  Ministry  forced 
the  South  African  War  to  a  finish.  Lord  Kitchener  was  sent 
to  direct  the  campaign,  and  his  remorseless  methods  soon 
reduced  the  Boer  commanders  to  mere  guerilla  warfare. 
Non-combatants  were  concentrated  in  refugee  camps,  and 
prisoners  of  war  to  the  number  of  forty-two  thousand  were 
transported  to  Ceylon,  St.  Helena,  and  Jamaica  ;  but  yet  the 
Boer  leaders  would  not  acknowledge  that  their  cause  was 
lost.     Salisbury  insisted  on  unconditional   surrender,  while 

1  The  South  African  War  cost  /■  206, 224,000.  Twentv-two  thousand  Brit- 
ish officers  and  men  were  killed,  seventy-five  thousand  invalided  were  sent 
home, 


458 


TJie  Groivth  of  Democracy 


Terms  of 
Peace. 


Whates,' 
Bk.  VII. 


the  representatives  of  the  Transvaal  would  accept  British 
suzerainty  only  in  case  the  government  should  agree  to 
repatriate  the  exiled  Boers  and  restore  the  confiscated  lands, 
make  full  compensation  for  property  destroyed  by  British 
troops,  impose  no  reprisals  on  their  allies  in  Cape  Colony, 
and  grant  to  the  Transvaal  and  the  Orange  Free  State  local 
autonomy  comparable  to  that  accorded  to  Canada  and  the 
Australian  colonies.  These  terms  Lord  Salisbury's  ministry 
was  forced  to  grant  in  order  to  bring  the  war  to  a  close. 
The  House  of  Commons  voted  a  generous  loan  in  aid  of 
the  widows  and  orphans  and  for  the  rehabilitation  of  the 
devastated  farms  of  the  Velt.  Unrestricted  self-government, 
however,  the  Conservative  cabinet  could  not  be  induced  to 
approve,  believing  that  the  interests  of  British  residents 
could  not  be  intrusted  to  a  legislature  in  which  the  majority 
would  inevitably  be  Dutchmen.  In  response  to  the  demand 
for  hands  to  work  the  mines  of  the  Rand,  the  government 
arranged  a  labor  contract  under  which  Chinese  coolies  were 
admitted  to  the  Transvaal. 

An  Imperial  Customs  Union  Proposed.  —  The  extraordi- 
nary war  expenditure  necessitated  increased  taxation.  The 
income  tax  was  raised  from  eight  pence  to  one  shilling,  to 
fourteen  pence,  and  again  to  fifteen  pence  in  the  pound.  An 
import  duty  of  a  halfpenny  per  pound  was  laid  on  sugar,  and 
an  export  duty  of  a  shilling  per  ton  on  coal.  Even  a  bread 
tax  was  proposed  in  the  shape  of  a  duty  on  imported  grain 
and  flour.  This  suggestion  was  welcomed  by  the  agricul- 
tural interests  ;  but,  though  it  involved  only  a  slight  increase 
of  price,  the  impost  was  strenuously  denounced  in  manufac- 
turing centres,  and  the  government  was  obliged  to  abandon 
the  project. 

Chamberlain,  as  colonial  secretary,  then  proposed  a  system 
of  preferential  tariffs  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies, 
with  a  view  to  "  securing  as  large  a  share  as  possible  of  the 
mutual  trade  of  the  United  Kingdom  and  the  colonies  for 
British  producers  and  manufactures,  whether  located  in  the 
colonies  or  in  the  United  Kingdom."     The  scheme  involved 


00        West         40 


"^  '-ijFRANZ  JOSEPH'S 


<J,J.A.tl.ff" 


20     Greenwich    40 


t  C0.,EN6R'S,N,Y. 


TJie  Conservatives  lose  Control 


459 


a  reciprocity  agreement  with  each  of  the  self-governing 
colonies  under  which  import  duties  were  to  be  lowered  or 
removed  in  respect  of  British-made  goods.  A  compensat- 
ing advantage  was  promised  in  the  way  of  preferential  treat- 
ment of  colonial  products  at  all  British  ports.  Canada, 
Australia,  and  New  Zealand  adopted  measures  looking  toward 
such  a  customs  union ;  but  the  House  of  Commons  could 
not  be  induced  to  impose  discriminating  duties  on  foreign 
imports,  since  such  protection  was  protested  by  both  the 
manufacturing  and  the  commercial  interests  of  England. 

The  Land  Purchase  Act.  —  Substantial  justice  was  at  last 
accorded  to  the  Irish  peasantry  in  the  Land  Purchase  Act 
of  1903.  The  imperial  exchequer  was  pledged  to  furnish 
advances  of  money  to  peasant  purchasers  to  the  amount  of 
^100,000,000.  The  sums  so  borrowed  are  to  be  refunded 
by  means  of  an  annual  interest  charge  of  3  J  per  cent.  By 
this  arrangement  a  farmer  who  keeps  up  his  payments  is 
assured  clear  title  to  his  land  at  the  end  of  sixty-eight  years. 
An  inducement  to  sell  is  offered  to  the  Irish  landlord  in  the 
shape  of  a  money  bonus  amounting  to  from  5  percent  to  15 
per  cent  on  the  purchase  price.  It  was  estimated  that  the 
resulting  charge  of  some  ;^i  2,000,000  on  the  exchequer 
would  be  fully  offset  by  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of  maintain- 
ing land  courts  and  police  force,  made  possible  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  agrarian  grievances  of  Ireland.  This  measure 
was  cordially  endorsed  by  the  National  League  and  went 
far  to  propitiate  the  Nationalist  party. 

The  Conservatives  lose  Control.  —  Assured  of  its  majority 
in  the  House  of  Commons  and  backed  by  a  Tory  House  of 
Lords,  the  Conservative  party  carried  through  a  measure 
extending  grants  in  aid  of  public  education  to  the  voluntary 
schools  hitherto  maintained  in  part  and  controlled  in  full 
by  the  churches.  Since  the  great  majority  of  such  schools 
were,  in  England  of  the  Anglican,  and  in  Ireland  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith,  the  law  was  bitterly  opposed,  not 
only  by  Liberals  and  Radicals,  but  by  all  Dissenters.  School 
rates  for  the  support  of  denominational  religious  instruction 


Dunraven, 
The  Outlook 
in  Ireland. 


Education 
Act,  1902. 


460 


Tlic  Groivth  of  Democracy 


Balfour's 
Cabinet. 


Liberal 

Victory, 

1906. 


were  protested  as  unjust  and  illegal.  Members  of  the  Pas- 
sive Resistance  League  refused  to  pay  the  tax,  and  when 
prosecuted  went  cheerfully  to  jail  as  martyrs  to  a  just  cause. 
The  long  and  bitter  controversy  waged  over  the  Education 
Act  absorbed  the  attention  of  the  Ministry  at  the  expense 
of  other  legislation  deemed  far  more  important  by  Liberal 
Unionists,  and  this  contingent  of  Lord  Salisbury's  support 
grew  lukewarm  and  unreliable.  Lord  Salisbury  himself  re- 
signed the  premiership  in  July,  1902.  He  was  an  old  man 
and  weary  of  the  heavy  responsibility.  Disheartened  by  the 
failure  of  his  protective  policy,  Chamberlain  withdrew  from 
the  Colonial  Office  in  the  year  following. 

Balfour  was  appointed  prime  minister.  His  great  ability 
in  parliamentary  debate  and  his  skill  in  the  administration  of 
Ireland  had  indicated  his  fitness  for  this  high  office,  but  he 
made  an  ineffective  party  leader.  His  cabinet  was  composed 
of  friends  and  relatives,  unprogressive  men,  and  notably  lack- 
ing in  statesmanship.  Would-be  reformers,  such  men  as  Win- 
ston Churchill,  dropped  away  one  by  one,  and  by-elections 
went  against  the  Conservatives.  Their  enormous  majority 
dwindled  until  Balfour  was  constrained  to  resign,  and  the  king 
asked  Campbell-Bannerman  to  reorganize  the  government. 
In  the  elections  of  January,  1906,  the  Liberals  secured 
375  seats  and  the  Conservatives  and  Unionists  combined  but 
158.  The  Nationalists  carried  an  additional  Irish  district, 
so  that  John  Redmond  could  count  on  a  stanch  following  of 
83  members  ;  but  the  Labour  party  scored  the  most  brilliant 
victory.  Their  leader,  Keir  Hardie,  rallied  53  votes,  of  which 
some  23  were  avowedly  Socialist.  The  effect  of  the  advent 
of  this  strong  body  of  men  pledged  to  Radical  reforms  marks 
as  great  a  change  in  the  character  of  the  House  of  Commons 
as  that  brought  about  by  the  Reform  Act  of  1832.  Both 
Nationalists  and  Labour  men  indicate  their  independence  of 
the  party  in  power  by  sitting  on  the  Opposition -side  of  the 
House.  They  vote  with  the  Liberals  only  so  far  as  they  find 
themselves  in  accord  with  the  ministerial  policy.  Campbell- 
Bannerman,  dreading  their  defection,  undertook  to  conciliate 


Home  Rule  Measures  461 

these  factious  adherents  by  appointing  John  Burns,  the  ablest 
member  of  the  Labour  party,  president  of  the  Local  Govern- 
ment Board,  and  James  Bryce,  the  consistent  friend  of  home 
rule,  chief  secretary  for  Ireland. 

Backed  by  this  rather  unwieldy  majority,  the  Campbell-   Campbell- 
Bannerman  Ministry  set  out  to  fulfil  its  extensive  reform  pro-   Banner- 
gramme.     The  demands  of  the  Labour  party  have  been  met  conciliatory 
in  a  series  of  important  measures.     The  Trade  Union  Dis-   policy, 
putes  Act  declares  the  accumulated  funds  of  a  labour  union 
not  hable  to  be  drawn  upon  to  meet  penalties  imposed  by 
the  courts  upon  its  officers.     The  Workmen's  Compensation 
Act  was  extended  to  include  seamen  and  domestic  servants. 
The  Eight  Hours'  Day  for  Miners  Bill  was  espoused  by  the 
Ministry,  but,  because  of  differences  of  opinion  in  the  trades 
concerned,  was  referred  to  a  royal  commission  of  inquiry. 
An  act  empowering  school  boards  to  feed  needy  scholars 
passed  both  Houses,  though  an  amendment  excepting  Scot- 
land was  achieved  by  a  Scotch  peer.     Other  socialistic  prop- 
ositions, such  as  old  age  pensions,  systematic  relief  of  the 
unemployed,  compulsory  land  purchase,  the  nationalization 
of  railroads,  and  the    furtherance   of  municipal  ownership, 
have  been  urged  on  the  attention  of  the  Ministry,  but  have 
not  as  yet  been  incorporated  in  the  Liberal  programme. 

Home  Rule  Measures. — In  August,  1906,  Winston  Churchill, 
under-secretary  for  the  colonies,  brought  forward  and  carried 
by  a  large  majority  a  bill  conceding  to  the  Transvaal  full 
representative  government.     Political  suffrage  is  accorded  to   Responsible 
every  man  of  European  descent  who  has  resided  six  months   Government 

1  r     1         1         •    1        •  ^O*"  South 

in  the  country.  Of  the  sixty- nine  members  of  the  legislative  Africa. 
assembly,  thirty-two  represent  the  Rand,  an  arrangement 
intended  to  give  the  balance  of  power  to  the  English  pop- 
ulation. Either  Dutch  or  English  may  be  used  in  official 
business,  but  Dutch  is  the  language  of  the  public  schools. 
The  importation  of  Chinese  laborers  is  forbidden.  The  re- 
cent elections  turned,  however,  not  on  race  antagonism,  but  on 
the  question  whether  the  people  or  the  mining  companies 
should  control  the  Transvaal.     The  English  Nationalists  and 


1907. 


Council 
Bill,  1907, 


462  TJic  Growth  of  Democracy 

Transvaal       the  Dutch  Het  Volk  united  in  resistance  to  the  selfish  poHcy 
Elections,       ^f  ^^  mining  syndicates.     The  result  was  a  signal  victory 
for  the  people.     General  Botha,  the  first  premier  of  the  new 
colony,  declares  that  "  British  supremacy  will  be  safer  in  the 
hands  of  the  Boers  than  in  those  of  cosmopolitan  capitalists." 
The  persistent  demand  for  home  rule  for  Ireland  has  been 
Irish  recognized  in  the  proposal  for  a  central  Irish  Council,  in 

part  elected  and  in  part  appointed  by  the  crown,  which  is  to 
be  responsible  for  the  administration  of  such  purely  Irish 
affairs  as  do  not  bring  in  question  imperial  interests.  The 
scheme  has  not  found  favor  with  the  Irish  people,  who 
cling  to  their  purpose  of  securing  unqualified  home  rule. 

The  Education  Bill  of  1906. — Augustine  Birrell,  president 
of  the  national  Board  of  Education,  was  responsible  for  a 
measure  intended  to  supersede  the  Education  Act  of  1902. 
It  proposed  to  withdraw  rate  aid  from  church  schools  and 
to  provide  no  denominational  instruction  at  public  cost,  no 
religious  test  was  to  be  applied  to  teachers,  and  no  child 
should  be  required  to  attend  such  religious  instruction  as 
might  be  voluntarily  provided.  The  bill  passed  the  House 
of  Commons  by  a  majority  of  192,  but  it  was  defeated  in  the 
Upper  House  by  wholesale  amendments  in  the  interest  of 
denominational  instruction. 

This  defiance  of  the  popular  will  definitely  expressed  in  a 
recent  election  has  raised  anew  the  question  whether  to  "end 
or  mend"  the  House  of  Lords.    With  a  body  of  six  hundred 
members,  nine-tenths  of  whom  vote  Conservative,  it  is  quite 
impracticable  to  swamp  a  majority  by  the  creation  of  new 
peers.     Various  propositions   have   been   brought   forward, 
such  as  to  withhold  the  writ  of  summons  from  habitual  absen- 
tees, to  raise  the  quorum  to  a  fair  proportion,  or  to  reduce 
the  number  of  hereditary  peers  and  substitute  a  considerable 
number  of  elected  peers,  who  shall  sit  for  life  as  do  the  Scotch 
Abolition  or    and  Irish  peers  and  the  law  lords  and  bishops. 
Reorganiza-       q^j-jg  Labour  party  brought  in  a  proposition  to  abolish  the 
Hous°io?^      Upper  House,  but  their  bill  was  not  supported  by  the  Min- 
Lords?  istry.     Campbell-Bannerman's    resolution    looking    toward 


hnportant  Events  463 

the  curtailment  of  its  powers  secured  a  majority  of  285  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  but  the  peers  cannot  be  expected 
to  cooperate  in  this  movement.  Lord  Newton  has  sub- 
mitted to  the  Upper  House  a  plan  Hraiting  its  membership 
to  three  classes  of  peers  —  those  who  liave  rendered  dis- 
tinguished public  service,  appointees  of  the  crown,  and 
representatives  elected  by  the  whole  peerage.  A  more 
radical  measure  is  not  likely  to  be  adopted.  Most  English- 
men regard  the  House  of  Lords  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
British  Constitution  and  an  important  make-weight  against 
hasty  and  ill-considered  action  by  the  more  popular  House. 
It  is  proposed  that  in  case  of  hopeless  disagreement  be- 
tween the  two  Houses,  the  question  in  dispute  be  submitted 
to  direct  vote  of  the  people,  the  ultimate  authority  in  a  con- 
stitutional government. 


Important  Events 

George  III,  1760-1820. 
Peace  of  Amiens,  1802. 
Renewal  of  war  with  France,  1803. 
Battle  of  Trafalgar,  1805. 
The  Orders  in  Council,  1807. 
The  Peninsular  War,  1808-1814. 
The  American  War,  1812-1814. 
The  Congress  of  Vienna,  1815. 
The  Manchester  Massacre,  1819. 

George  IV,  1820-1830. 

Catholic  Emancipation,  1829. 

William  IV,  1830- 1837. 
Electoral  reform,  1832. 
Abolition  of  slavery  in  the  colonies,  1833. 
Factory  Act  for  protection  of  children,  1833. 
The  new  Poor  Law,  1834. 
Municipal  reform,  1835. 


464  TJic  GrowtJi  of  Democracy 

Victoria,  i  837-1 901. 

Repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  1846. 

The  Chartist  demonstration,  1848. 

The  Crimean  War,  1 854-1 856. 

Electoral  reform,  1867. 

Uisestablisiiment  of  the  Irish  Church,  1869. 

Reform  of  the  Irish  land  laws,  1870. 

Elementary  education,  1870. 

The  Berlin  Congress,  1878. 

The  Irish  Land  Act,  1881. 

Electoral  reform,  1884  and  1885. 

Irish  Land  Purchase  Act,  1885. 

Scotch  Crofters  Act,  1886. 

Small  Agricultural  Holdings  Act,  1890. 

Failure  of  the  Home  Rule  Bills,  1886  and  1894. 

The  Queen's  Jubilees,  1887,  1897. 

Local  Government  for  Ireland  Act,  1898. 

The  Boer  War,  1 898-1902. 

Edward  VII,  1901-. 

Education  Act,  1902. 

Irish  Land  Purchase  Act,  1903. 

Agricultural  Holdings  Act,  1906. 

Representative  Government  for  the  Transvaal,  1906. 


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CHAPTER   XV 

THE   INDUSTRIAL   REVOLUTION 
Books  for  Consultation 

Special  Ri':ferences 

Toynbee,  Induslrial  Revohition. 

Ward,  Reign  of  Queen    Victoria. 

Taylor,  Modern  Factory  System. 

Smiles,  Life  of  George  Stephenson. 

Muirhead,  Life  of  James   Watt. 

Smiles,   Life  of  Bolton  and  IVatt. 

Warwick,  Life  of  Joseph  Arch. 

Charles  Booth,  Life  and  L^abor  of  the  People. 

General  Booth,  Ln  Darkest  England. 

Bowley,  A.  L.,  National  Progress  since  1882. 

Illustrative  Readings 

Bronte,  Shirley. 

Kingsley,  Alton  Locke. 

Disraeli,  Sybil. 

Besant,  The  Children  of  Gibeon  ;   All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men. 

Ward,  Marcella. 

Carlyle,   Sartor  Resartus. 

Ruskin,    Unto  This  Last. 

Domestic  Manufacturer.  —  The  first  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  a  period  of  marked  prosperity  for  the  working- 
class  population  of  England.  The  arable  land  was  still  for 
the  most  part  tilled  by  peasants  in  small  holdings.  Under 
the  influence  of  the  bounty  on  exports  (i68g),  the  price  of 
grain  was  such  as  to  insure  a  steady  profit  to  the  producer. 
The  farmer's  income  was  further  enhanced  by  certain  by- 
industries.  The  exclusive  policy  of  the  gilds  had  driven 
cloth  manufacturers  who  were  not  of  the  favored  companies 

467 


468 


The  Industrial  Revolution 


Defoe,  Tour 
through 
Great 
Britain. 
Vol.  I,  Letter 
I,  92-94. 
Vol.  Ill, 
Letter  I, 
99-102, 
116-121. 


Traill,  V, 
305-310. 


Cunning- 
ham, 
pp.  219,  220. 


Traill,  V, 
468-474. 
Traill,  VL 
69-74. 


into  the  rural  districts,  and  the  woollen  industry  was  largely 
transferred  from   the  city  to  tlie  farm.     Carding,  spinning, 
weaving,  and  dyeing  were  carried  on  with  good  success  in 
thousands   of  cottage  homes.     The  homespun  broadcloths 
and  serges  found  a  ready  market  in  the  neighboring  towns 
and  brought  in  a  welcome  addition  to  the  yeoman's  income. 
Introduction  of  Textile  Machinery.  —  Until  1 700,  the  im- 
plements employed  in   cloth  manufacture    were   nearly  as 
simple  as  those  of  India.     The  distaff  and  spindle  had  been 
displaced  by  the  spinning-wheel  in  the  fifteenth  century,  but 
the  loom  contained  as  yet  no  essential  improvement  on  that 
used    by   the  Anglo-Saxons.     In    1738  one  John  Kay  in- 
vented the  fly-shuttle,  which  enabled  one  man  to  tend  the 
loom  that  had  heretofore  required  two.     At  the  same  time, 
the  productive  power  was  doubled.     The  fly-shuttle  came 
rapidly  into  general  use,  and,  since  the   efficiency  of  the 
weaver  was   quadrupled,   the   looms  soon   outstripped  the 
spinning-wheels.     It   was  difficult   to  provide   yarn    for  all 
the  weavers.     In  1767  Hargreaves  stumbled  upon  an  inven- 
tion that  restored  proportion.     Upsetting  a  spinning-wheel 
and  observing  it  still  moving,  he  caught  the  idea  of  an  auto- 
matic arrangement  of  several  spindles  set  in  motion  by  one 
wheel.     The  spinning-jenny,    as   his    machine   was    called, 
carried  at  first  eight  threads,  then  sixteen,  twenty,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty,  etc.     At  about  the   same  time,  Richard 
Arkwright  secured  a  patent  for  a  spinning-machine   (the 
throstle)  constructed  on  a  different  principle  and  spinning  a 
harder,  firmer  thread  than  the  jenny.     The  best  features  of 
the  two  machines  were  combined  in  the   mule-jenny,   pat- 
ented by  Samuel  Crompton  in  1779.     The  new  spinner  has 
been  improved  till  it  now  carries  two  thousand  spindles  and 
requires    so    little    attention    that  the     machines    can    be 
tended  by  children.     These  inventions  gave  a  marvellous  im- 
pulse to  textile  industry.     The  new  machinery  was  used  to 
great  advantage  in  making  up  not  only  silk,  wool,  and  flax, 
but  the  far  more  difficult  fibre  cotton.    The  manufacture  of 
cotton  had  been  regarded  as  impracticable  in  England,  and 


Introduction  of  Textile  Machittery  469 

the  importation  of  cotton  cloth  from  the  East  was  prohibited 
lest  it  should  come  into  injurious  competition  with  the 
native  woollen  goods.  But  Hargreaves's  jenny  spun  a  fine, 
strong  thread  that  could  be  woven  into  the  best  cambric. 
Business  enterprise  caught  at  this  new  opportunity.  Mills 
were  built  and  machinery  perfected,  vast  quantities  of  raw 
material '  were  imported,  and  cotton  cloth  became  one  of  the 


Arkwright's  Spinning  Machine  of  1769 

From  the  original  specification  drawing.  —  Ure,  Cotton  Mauu/acture 

principal  products  of  English  industry.  The  zealous  manu- 
facturers soon  cast  aside  hand  power  as  quite  too  slow  for 
their  purpose.  Horse  power  and  water  power  were  utilized 
in  turn.  Einally  Watt's  steam  engine  furnished  a  motor,  at  Watt's 
once  the  most  convenient  and  the  most  efficient.  Cart- 
wright's  "  power-loom  was  invented  in  1787  and  was  imme- 

1  The  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  (1793)  greatly  reduced  the  cost  of 
preparing  the  raw  material. 

2  I'hese  inventors  were,  with  few  e.\ceptions,  men  of  humble  birth.  Har- 
greaves  was  an  ignorant  weaver;  Crompton,  a  spinner  and  a  farmer's  son  ; 
Arkwright  was  a  poor  wig-maker ;  Cartwright  alone  of  the  great  inventors 
was  a  gentleman  born. 


steam 
engine. 


470  The  hidusiyial  Revolution 

Cunning-        diately  adopted  in  the  cotton  factories.     In  the  manufac- 
ham,  ture    of  silk    and    wool    the    hand-looms    held    their    own, 

pp.  2  9-224.     }^ovvever,  for  fifty  years  to  come. 

The  modern  factory  was  the  direct  result  of  these  inven- 
Cunning-  tions.  The  several  processes,  carding,  spinning,  weaving, 
ham,  g^c  could  not  long  be  carried  on  in  scattered  cottages,  but 

DD     22^    226 

must  be  brought  together  under  one  roof  in  order  that  the 
machinery  might  be  run  by  the  central  motive  power, 
whether  steam  or  water.  Great  mills  were  built  and  the 
operatives  were  obliged  to  live  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 
Traill,  V,  Men  gladly  availed  themselves  of  this  new  opportunity  to 
604.  earn  a  hving.     Evicted  peasants  from  Ireland,  English  farm 

laborers  deprived  of  work  by  improved  methods  of  tillage, 
flocked  to  the  factory  centres  in  search  of  employment. 
People  began  to  migrate  from  the  country  to  the  city,  from 
the  agricultural  regions  of  the  south  to  Yorkshire  and  Lanca- 
shire, where  water  power  was  abundant  and  stores  of  coal 
Traill,  V,  furnished  an  inexhaustible  fuel.  Great  manufacturing  towns 
591-598.  grew  up  in  districts  sparsely  inhabited  hitherto,  and  the  agri- 

cultural England  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  transformed  into 
the  manufacturing  and  mercantile  England  of  the  present 
day.  The  urban  population  increased  from  eighteen  and  a 
half  per  cent  of  the  total  in  181 1  to  forty  per  cent  in  1861 
and  thirty-one  per  cent  in  1901. 

Textile  inventions  gave  Great  Britain  an  immense  supe- 
riority over  her  rivals  in  the  cloth  industry,  and  that  advan- 
tage was  jealously  guarded.  Severe  penalties  were  imposed 
on  the  exportation  of  machinery.  Even  skilled  operatives 
were  forbidden  to  leave  the  kingdom,  lest  they  carry  abroad 
the  knowledge  of  the  new  models  and  betray  the  secrets  of 
Traill,  VI,  the  trade.  For  fifty  years  {circa  1775-1825)  English  manu- 
589-598.  facturers   enjoyed  a   practical   monopoly  of  European  and 

American  markets  and  amassed  wealth  apace. 

Antagonism  between  Capital  and  Labor.  —  With  the  intro- 
duction of  costly  machinery,  capital  acquired  an  entirely 
new  significance  in  industry.  Labor  had  heretofore  been 
the  all-important  element  in  production,  but  from  the  time 


Antagonism  between  Capital  and  Labor     471 

that  money  was  required  to  build  and  furnish  a  mill,  capital 
has  played  the  principal  part.  The  man  who  can  bring  to 
bear  upon  the  new  industrial  opportunity  not  only  a  consid- 
erable fortune,  but  business  ability  and  organizing  genius,  is 
easily  master  of  the  situation.^  He  directs  the  forces  at  his 
disposal  as  dexterously  as  a  general  manteuvres  his  regiments 
and   artillery.     The  laborer,  on  the  other   hand,   has  de- 


SiR  Richard  Akkwright 


scended  to  the  position  of  a  hired  dependant.  Working  on 
materials  and  with  machinery  that  belong  to  another,  retain- 
ing no  share  in  the  product  beyond  his  wages,  he  has  no  per- 
sonal concern  for  his  work.  The  interests  of  employer  and 
employed  being  diverse,  have  come  frequently  into  direct 
conflict.     Misunderstanding  and  distrust  have  grown   into 

1  Early  "  captains  of  industry  "  were  Sir  Richard  Arkwright,  Sir  Robert 
Peel,  Robert  Owen. 


472  TJie  Industrial  Revolution 

Cunning-        a  well-defined  hostility.     With  the   factory  organization  of 
''^™'  industry  began  the  modern  antagonism  between  capital  and 

labor. 


pp.  226-230. 


Displacement  of  Craftsmen.  —  The  condition  of  the  oper- 
atives in  the  first  'iwt  decades  of  the  factory  system  went  far 
to  justify  this  hostility.  Machinery  had  rendered  muscle 
and  skill  unnecessary.  In  the  factory  operative,  who  had 
but  to  overlook  a  self-impelled  mechanism,  the  essential 
quality  was  patient,  unremitting  attention.  Endurance  was 
more  important  than  strength  or  ingenuity.  The  craftsman 
suddenly  found  his  labor  a  drug  in  the  market,  for  unskilled 
laborers,  women,  the  very  children,  could  do  the  work  re- 
quired as  well  as  he.  Women  and  children  ^  were  even 
preferred  because  they  were  more  dexterous  and  docile. 
The  effect  was  to  reverse  the  relations  of  the  home.  Wives 
and  children  became  the  bread-winners,  while  grown  men 
vainly  sought  employment  or  degenerated  into  contented 
idleness. 
Cunning-  It  is  true  that  new  industries  were  being- developed  by 

iiam,  the    requirements   of  the    factory.     Machinery  was   to    be 

pp.  214  19.  constructed  and  mills  built.  Coal  and  iron  must  be  sup- 
plied in  increasing  quantities.  Railroads  and  steamship 
lines  were  needed  to  carry  the  products  of  English  looms 
to  distant  markets.  The  factory  era  witnessed  a  marvel- 
lous expansion  in  all  departments  of  industry ;  but  the 
new  opportunties  fell  to  the  succeeding  generation.  The 
spinners  and  weavers  thrown  out  of  work  by  inventions  could 
not  immediately  secure  employment  as  miners  and  machin- 
ists. The  enlarged  demand  for  labor  might  ultimately  ab- 
sorb the  whole  labor  supply,  but  it  could  not  avert  temporary 
distress. 

Deterioration  of  the  Laborer.  —  Quite  as  serious  as  the 
displacement  of  skilled  laborers  was  the  effect  of  the  inferior 
conditions  of  employment  on  the  operatives.  Machinery 
knows  no  fatigue.     In  order  to  get  as  much  as  possible  out 

1  Of  the  1,084,631  operatives  in  the  textile  factories  (1890),  410,608  were 
women,  86,499  were  children. 


Deterioration  of  the  Laborer  473 

of  his  investment,  the  master  was  tempted  to  work  his  em- 
ployees as  long  and  hard  as  was  humanly  possible.  Hours 
varied  with  the  policy  of  the  individual  employer,  but  a 
fifteen- hour  day  was  not  thought  excessive,  and  cases  are 
recorded  where  operatives  were  regularly  kept  at  work  for 
eighteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four.  Motives  of  economy 
dictated  that  the  mills  should  be  cheaply  built.  Poor  light, 
bad  ventilation,  defective  drainage,  were  the  rule. 

Conditions  outside  the  factory  were  even  more  deplorable. 
People  crowded  into  the  factory  towns  far  in  excess  of  house 
accommodations.  Huddled  together  in  attics  and  cellars  ^ 
and  hastily  built  tenements,  they  were  forced  to  live  under 
conditions  that  bred  disease.  The  physique  of  the  factory 
operative  rapidly  degenerated,  while  the  death  rate,  markedly 
higher  in  manufacturing  towns  than  elsewhere,  told  a  sad  tale 
of  misery. 

In  the  first  stages  of  this  transformation,  the  suffering  of 
the  laboring  classes  was  hardly  noted.  All  energies  were 
engaged  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  all  attention  was  fixed 
upon  the  marvellous  inventions  by  which  production  was 
multiplied  a  hundred-fold.  Enormous  fortunes  were  amassed 
in  manufactures  and  trade,  and  the  national  wealth  aug- 
mented by  leaps  and  bounds."  The  increase  of  population, 
then  regarded  as  a  sure  index  of  prosperity,  was  not  less 
marked.     The  population  of  Great  Britain  has  been  quin- 

^  In  Manchester,  one-tenth  of  the  population  lived  in  cellars. 


2  Wealth  of  G 

real  Britain 

in  Million 

Pounds. 

1774 

;^I,IOO 

1800 

1.740 

1812 

2,190 

1822 

2,600 

1833 

3.75° 

1840 

4,100 

i86«; 

6,113 

I87S 

8,584 

1885 

10,037 

1903 

15,000 

Popi 

lation. 

1780 

8,080,000 

1 801 

15,717,287 

I8II 

17,926,580 

I82I 

20,893,684 

I83I 

26,028,584 

I84I 

26,709,456 

I85I 

27,368,736 

I86I 

28,974,362 

I87I 

31,513.442 

I88I 

35,241,482 

I89I 

37.796.390 

1 901 

41,605,323 

474 


TJic  Industrial  Revolution 


Traill,  V, 
601-604. 


The 

Luddites. 


Cunning- 
ham, pp.  105 
106,  214. 


Coalition 
Act,  1800. 


tupled  and  her  wealth  multipHcd  by  ten  since  the  introduc- 
tion of  textile  machinery. 

Revolt  of  Labor.  —  The  laborers,  however,  were  not  con- 
soled by  the  ultimate  advantages  of  the  use  of  machinery. 
They  saw  plainly  enough  that  the  immediate  results  were 
disastrous,  and  blindly  thought  to  set  the  matter  right  by 
destroying  their  dangerous  rival.  Kay's  fly-shuttle  was  so 
resented  that  the  inventor  was  forced  to  flee  the  kingdom. 
Hargreaves's  house  was  broken  open  and  his  spinning-jenny 
smashed  in  pieces.  Arkwright's  mill  was  wrecked  by  an 
infuriated  mob,  and  Peel's  factory  at  Altham  suffered  a  simi- 
lar fate.  Serious  riots  broke  out  among  the  silk-weavers  at 
Spitalfields  and  Blackburn.  In  1811,  a  formidable  insurrec- 
tion was  set  on  foot  by  the  hosiers  of  Nottingham.  Form- 
ing themselves  into  secret  associations,  the  mutinous  laborers 
attacked  the  houses  of  the  manufacturers  and  destroyed  the 
dreaded  knitting-frames.  Such  outbreaks  of  popular  feeling 
were  summarily  suppressed  as  offences  against  public  tran- 
quillity. 

The  strike  was  a  more  rational  method  of  resistance. 
This,  however,  involved  concerted  action  on  the  part  of  the 
laborers,  and  was  hardly  less  incriminating  than  open  vio- 
lence. The  manufacturers  readily  secured  assistance  from 
Parliament.  The  Coalition  Act  of  iSoo  reasserted  the  old- 
time  prohibition  against  "  covin  and  conspiracy."  Any 
persons  combining  to  advance  the  rate  of  wages,  reduce  the 
hours  of  labor,  or  in  any  manner  coerce  the  masters  of  a 
trade,  were  condemned  to  jail  and  hard  labor.  Repressive 
legislation  was,  however,  found  to  be  of  no  avail.  Secret  as- 
sociations existed  wherever  laborers  were  congregated  in  the 
factory  towns,  and  their  methods  were  the  more  desperate 
because  illegal.  The  policy  of  repression  was,  neverthe- 
less, maintained  for  twenty-five  years.  In  1824,  Parliament 
appointed  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the  effect  of  the 
Coalition  Act.  It  was  reported  that  "  those  laws  had  not 
only  not  been  efficient  to  prevent  combinations  either  of 
masters  or  workmen,  but,  on  the  contrary,  had,  in  the  opin- 


Revolt  of  Labor  475 

ion  of  many  of  both  parties,  a  tendency  to  produce  mutual 
irritation  and  distrust,  and  to  give  a  violent  character  to  the 
combinations,  and  to  render  them  highly  dangerous  to  the 
peace  of  the  community."  The  statute  was  therefore  re- 
pealed. A  sudden  and  marked  increase  in  the  number  of  Repeal  of 
strikes  induced  this  employers'  Parliament  to  impose  certain    .°f  ^ '°° 

ACtj    1024. 

restraints  on  trade  societies  in  the  following  year,  but  abso- 
lute prohibition  was  never  again  attempted.  In  the  Trades 
Union  Acts  of  1871  and  1876,  such  associations  were  given 
a  legal  status.     For  the  past  fifty  years  the  unions  have  had   Bright,  iv, 

a   marked    influence.       Thev    have    accomplished    a    con-   38. 39. 400- 

400,  503-506, 
siderable    advance    of   wages,     and    they    have    worked    to   515,516,573, 

bring  about  a  legal  limitation  on  the  hours  of  labor,  and  a   574- 

prohibition    of   such    conditions  in  mine   and  workshop  as 

militate  against  the  well-being  of  the  laborer. 

Factory  Legislation. —  The  trades  unions  have  not  been 
alone  in  their  endeavor  to  secure  for  the  operatives  higher 
wages,  shorter  hours,  and  better  conditions  of  labor. 
Throughout  the  nineteenth  century  the  cause  of  the  work- 
ing classes  has  been  championed  by  philanthropists  and 
statesmen,  who  have  thought  it  wiser  to  protect  the  laborer 
against  degrading  conditions  than  to  build  hospitals  and 
almshouses  for  the  victims  of  the  new  order.  First  to  pro- 
test against  the  injurious  efforts  of  factory  labor  was  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  who  as  prime  minister  called  attention  to  the 
misery  of  the  so-called  apprentices  —  the  children  sent 
from  the  parish  poor  houses  to  be  bound  out  to  the  manu- 
facturers. The  Act  of  1802  applied  only  to  apprenticed  Factory 
children  working  in  cotton  and  woollen  mills.  It  required  ■^'^*'  ^^°^* 
that  they  should  have  suitable  lodging,  clothing,  and  instruc- 
tion ;  their  working  day  was  limited  to  twelve  hours,  between 
six  in  the  morning  and  nine  at  night ;  and  the  factory  where 
they  were  employed  was  to  be  "  lime-washed  twice  a  year, 
and  duly  ventilated." 

The  law  was  evaded  by  unscrupulous  manufacturers,  who 

1  Giffen  estimates  the  average  rise  of  wages  from  1835  to  1885  3170%. 
From  1882  to  1902  the  gain  has  been  15%,  according  to  Bowiey. 


476 


TJic  Industrial  Revolution 


Factory 
Com- 
mission, 
1833- 

Mrs.  Brown- 
ing's Cry  of 
the  Children. 


Factory 
Act,  1833. 


Cunning- 
ham, 
pp.  106-108. 


Ten  Hours 
Act,  1847. 


Factory  and 
Workshop 
Consolida- 
tion Act, 
1878. 


had  no  difficulty  in  hiring  free  children  from  their  needy 
])arents  and  guardians.  Owen  and  Peel  pressed  for  farther 
legislation  that  should  protect  these  no  less  unfortunate 
victims  of  machinery.  A  series  of  abortive  measures  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  searching  investigation  conducted 
by  the  Factory  Commission  of  1833.  The  report  revealed 
a  state  of  things  that  roused  the  country  to  horrified  protest. 
Children  of  tender  years  were  employed  for  long  hours 
and  upon  tasks  beyond  their  strength.  Robbed  of  sleep 
and  healthful  recreation,  these  toiling  little  ones  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  diseases  and  deformities  incident  to  the  nature  of 
their  work.  Deprived  of  opportunity  for  education,  sub- 
jected to  demoralizing  influences,  they  rapidly  degenerated 
into  weakness,  brutality,  vice.  England  stood  aghast  at  the 
evident  degradation  of  her  working  classes.  A  vigorous 
effort  was  made  in  the  interests  of  industrial  freedom  to 
prevent  remedial  legislation  ;  but  the  economists  were  over- 
borne by  the  weight  of  evidence  against  the  "  let  alone  " 
policy,  and  the  eager  advocates  of  national  aggrandizement 
were  silenced.  The  Act  of  1833  forbade  the  employment 
in  factories  of  children  under  nine  years.  Children  between 
nine  and  thirteen  years  of  age  might  be  employed  but  eight 
hours  a  day,  while  no  person  under  twenty-one  years,  and  no 
woman,  might  be  employed  at  night.  Subsequent  legislation 
provided  schooling  for  factory  children  on  the  "  half-time  " 
system,^  and  provided  that  women  and  children  might  not 
be  employed  at  the  mines  underground. 

In  1847,  after  a  battle  royal  between  the  champions 
of  protection  and  the  advocates  of  free  contract,  the  Ten 
Hours  Act  was  passed,  reducing  to  ten  the  number  of 
hours  in  the  working  day  for  women  and  children.  This 
practically  meant  a  ten-hour  day  for  all  factory  employees, 
since  the  men  could  not  profitably  be  kept  at  work  after 
their  nimble  assistants  were  withdrawn.  The  factory  legis- 
lation of  the  last  few  years  has  extended  the  blessings  of 
protection   to   every   factory  and  workshop  where  women 

1  Children  required  to  be  in  school  on  alternate  days  or  half-days. 


Transporta  Hon 


A77 


and  children  are  employed.  Safe  and  wholesome  condi- 
tions of  work  are  secured  by  minute  requirements  as  to 
ventilation  and  drainage,  and  the  guarding  of  machinery. 
Recent  legislation  renders  the  employer  liable  to  damage 
in  case  of  accident  for  which  he  can  reasonably  be  held 
responsible.  Municipalities  have  undertaken  the  condem- 
nation of  unsanitary  dwellings,  and  the  building  of  model 
dwellings  and  tenements  in  the  working-class  quarters. 
Thus  England  has  led  the  way,  not  only  in  the  invention  of 
machinery  and  in  the  production  of  goods  for  the  world's 
markets,  but  in  legislation  designed  to  secure  to  the  laborer 
fair  living  and  working  conditions. 

Transportation. — The  marvellous  industrial  development   Traill,  V, 
of  Great  Britain  has  been  greatly  furthered  by  improvement  322-326. 
in  the  means  of  transportation.     Much  had  been  done   for   Forbes  and 

,  .  r  Asnford, 

trade  in  the  eighteenth  century  by  the  bettermg  of  post-    q^^.  ^ater- 
roads  and  the   building  of  canals,  but  the  introduction  of    ways,  Ch. 
steam  as  a  motor  was  reserved  to   the  present  era.     One   VII,  Mil. 
William  Symington,  a  Scotch  engineer,  adapted  Watt's  in- 
vention to  the   turning  of  paddle-wheels,  and   patented  a 
steamboat  in   1801.       His   model,   the    Charlotte  Dundas, 
made  a  trial  trip  on  the   Forth  and  Clyde  Canal,  but  was 
abandoned  as  impractical.     The  Comet,   the  first  passenger 
steamer  built  in  Europe,  was  launched   on    the   Clyde  in 
181 2,  five  years  after  Fulton's    Clermont  made  her  way  up 
the  Hudson.     The  first  sea-going  steamer  sailed  from  Glas-   Traill,  vi, 
gow  to  Belfast  in   18 18.     The   Great   Western  crossed  the  392-404- 
Atlantic  in  1838,  and  the  Cunard  line  was  established  in 
1840.     The  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company  sent  steamers 
to  India  in    the   same  year.     Steamships   cost  more   than 
sailing-vessels,    but    they   have    many    times    the    carrying 
capacity   and    are    so    much   swifter   and    surer    that   they 
have     well-nigh     monopolized     the     great     trade     routes. 
Thus  New  York  was   brought  within  two  weeks  of  Liver- 
pool, Calcutta   within   six   weeks   of  London,  and  English 
goods    were    carried    to   these    ports    at   half  the    former 
rates. 


Traill,  VI, 
199-210. 


478 


TJic  Iii(i?ts trial  Revolution 


The  enterprise  of  English  shipbuilders  and  merchants 
has  secured  the  lion's  share  of  the  world's  commerce.  In 
1892  more  than  half  (56%)  the  carrying  trade  of  civilized 
nations  was  in  British  vessels. 

The  steam-engine  was  not  successfully  used  in  land  trans- 
portation until  1825,  when  Stephenson's  first  locomotive, 
the  Rocket,  made  her  trial  trip  on  the  Stockton  and   Dar- 


Trent  and  Mersey  Canal,  in  the  Potteries 

lington  Railway.  The  transcendent  importance  of  this  in- 
vention was  not  recognized  until  ten  years  later,  and  then  a 
mania  for  railroad  building  set  in.  Every  manufacturing 
centre  was  soon  connected  with  its  nearest  port,  while  the 
Scotch  Highlands  and  the  Welsh  mountains  were  brought 
within  reach  of  the  pleasure-seeking  world.  Great  Britain 
now  boasts  a  higher  railway  mileage,^  in  proportion  to  area, 
than  any  country  on  the  globe. 

1  There  were  22,435  mi'es  of  railway  in  the  British  Isles  in  1903.    Two- 
thirds  of  this  was  in  England. 


PRIXCIPAT^ 
CANALS 


48o 


TJic  Industrial  Revolution 


The  advantages  of  the  improved  means  of  locomotion  were 
soon  apparent  in  the  development  of  trade.  Railway  freight- 
age has  increased  fifty-fold  in  the  past  forty  years.  The  self- 
supporting  village  community  is  not  to  be  found  in  nineteenth- 
century  England.     All  producers  send  their  goods  to  the 


The  Rocket 

From  Smiles,  Life  of  George  Stephetison 


general  markets,  from  which  they  are  supplied  in  turn  with 
the  commodities  that  they  cannot  produce  so  cheaply.  The 
amount  of  travel  has  increased  ten-fold.^  The  chance  to  see 
the  world,  limited  to  the  wealthy  few  in  the  days  of  the  stage- 
coach, is  now  within  the  reach  of  day  laborers.  By  stage,  a 
man  travelled  nine  miles  an  hour  at  a  cost  of  ten  cents  a 

1  The  average  Englishman  travelled  thirteen  miles  in  1836,  one  hundred 
and  f:fty  miles  in  1886. 


Mining 


481 


mile.     By  train,  he  accomplishes  forty  miles  an  hour  at  one- 
fifth  the  cost. 

Mining.  —  Railways  and  steamships  hav^e  meant  an  enor- 
mous increase  in  the  demand  for  iron  and  coal.     From  the   Traill,  v, 
sixteenth  century,  iron  had  been  smelted  in  Sussex  and  the   311-317- 
Forest  of  Dean,  but  the  industry  languished  for  lack  of  fuel.' 
The  inventive  genius  of  England  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
this  problem.     Abraham  Darby  showed   the  smelters  how  Traill,  v, 
to  fire  their   furnaces   with  pit-coal,    Watt's  steam   engine  459-468. 
was  utilized  to  drive  the  machinery,  and  a  hundred  other 
inventions  brought   the  modern    rolling-mill  to  perfection. 
The   subterranean   riches    of  the    midland    counties    were 
then   speedily  opened   up.       Wealth   and    population   have 
gravitated  to  this  new  industrial  opportunity,  transforming 
South  Wales  and  the  "  black  country  "  into  the  richest  and 
the  ugliest  districts  in  the  United  Kingdom.     Great  Britain 
now  produces  more  than  one-third  the  world's  supply  of 
coal  and  nearly  one-fifth  its  iron.^ 

This  great  success  has  not  been  achieved  without  some 
loss.  The  conditions  of  mining,  in  the  coal  mines  espe- 
cially, must  always  be  difficult  and  dangerous.  During  the 
period  when  more  attention  was  given  to  profits  than  to  Mines  Act, 
human  welfare,  women  and  children  were  employed  in  the  ^^43- 
mines  at  tasks  ruinous  to  health  and  morals.  Parliamentary 
investigation  brought  facts  to  light  that  induced  legislation 
prohibiting  the  employment  of  women  and  children  below  the 
surface.  Later  legislation  has  required  safety  lamps,  ventilat- 
ing apparatus,  and  all  reasonable  precaution  against  danger, 
but  human  foresight  cannot  prevent  frightful  accidents. 

The  Miners'  Federation  has  fought  successfully  for  a 
shorter  working  day  and  a  "  living  wage."  The  great  strike 
of  1893  was  occasioned  by  a  proposed  reduction  of  25%  in 


Traill,  VI, 

367-377. 


1  Production  fell  to  17,350  tons  in  1740. 

2  Production  of  coal  in  1904  :  Great  Britain,  236,247,000  tons ;  United 
States,  318,275,000  tons;  all  countries,  866,104,000  tons.  Production  of 
pig-iron,  1904:  Great  Britain,  8,699,000  tons;  United  States,  16,760,000 
tons;  all  countries,  46,058,000  tons. 

2  t 


482 


The  Industrial  Rcvolntio)i 


Traill,  V, 
301-305. 


Enclosure3. 


Traill,  V, 

452-459- 


the  rate  determined  l)y  the  settlement  of  five  years  previous. 
Some  three  hundred  thousand  coal  miners  struck  work  in 
July,  1893,  and  held  to  their  purpose  until  the  mine-owners 
were  ready  to  make  concessions.  The  dispute  was  finally 
arbitrated  under  government  auspices,  and  the  men  secured 
a  restoration  of  the  established  rate.  The  eight-hour  day  is 
the  rule  in  several  mining  districts,  and  the  proposition 
for  a  legal  limitation  is  likely  soon  to  become  law. 

Agricultural  Revolution.  —  The  development  of  manu- 
factures, mining,  and  commerce  has  been  accom[)anied  by 
a  decline  in  agriculture.  During  the  eigliteenth  century 
and  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth,  legislation  had  tended 
to  foster  the  interests  of  the  great  landowners  who  con- 
trolled both  Houses  of  Parliament,  at  the  expense  of  the 
small  proprietors  and  the  community  at  large.  The  Corn 
Laws,  vigorously  maintained  from  1689  to  1846,  imposed 
heavy  duties  on  imported  grains,  and  gave  the  English  pro- 
ducers practical  monopoly  of  the  home  market.  At  the  same 
time,  a  series  of  enclosure  acts  facilitated  the  transfer  of  the 
coveted  privilege  of  land-ownership  from  the  small  holders  to 
a  few  wealthy  men.  A  movement  toward  enclosure,  such  as 
had  transformed  the  face  of  Tudor  England,  characterized 
the  Georgian  period.  This  second  great  onslaught  on 
peasant  holdings  was  due,  not  to  the  demand  for  pasture 
land,  but  to  improved  methods  of  tillage.  Scientific  agricul- 
ture, eloquently  advocated  by  such  men  as  Arthur  Young, 
had  become  the  fashion  among  English  landlords.  Assidu- 
ous attention  was  given  to  stock-raising.  Clover  and  rich 
grasses  were  introduced  and  better  breeds  of  cattle.  To 
the  arable  land,  marl  and  other  manures  were  applied, 
while  methods  of  cultivation  were  carefully  studied.  The 
open  field  system,  with  its  numerous  proprietors  and  cum- 
bersome regulations,  was  generally  abandoned.  The  land 
was  redistributed  in  such  fashion  that  each  man  who  could 
justify  his  title  received  his  share  in  a  single  plot  which 
could  be  cultivated  to  much  better  advantage  than  the 
scattered  holdings  of  the   old-time   tenure.     The  common 


Agricultural  Revolution 


483 


Traill, 
75-83. 


VI, 


land  was  usually  appropriated  by  the  landlord.  These  and 
other  improvements  so  increased  the  productive  power  of 
the  soil  that  wheat  lands  began  to  yield  twenty  and  thirty 
bushels  to  the  acre,  four  times  the  thirteenth-century 
average.  The  weight  of  sheep  and  cattle  was  raised  in  the 
same  proportion. 

The  progress  of  enclosure  was  accelerated  by  a  new 
demand  for  land.  Merchants,  grown  suddenly  rich  in  the 
East  India  trade,  and  clothiers,  who  had  amassed  fortunes  The  nabobs 
in  manufacture,  were  eager  to  buy  country  estates  and  to 
secure  a  place  among  the  landed  gentry.  Under  the  spur 
of  rising  prices  the  zeal  for  enclosing  overcame  all  obstacles. 
Between  1710  and  1760,  334,974  acres  were  enclosed,  while 
the  land  so  redistributed  from  1760  to  1830  amounted 
to  nearly  seven  million  acres.^  The  enclosure  acts  were 
framed  by  a  Parliament  made  up  of  landowners  who  gave 
but  slight  consideration  to  the  rights  of  tenants  and  free- 
holders. Unable  to  defend  themselves  against  their  power- 
ful neighbors,  small  proprietors  yielded,  not  without  protest, 
to  unjust  encroachment,  or  finding  that  they  could  not 
compete  in  the  same  market  with  the  new  cultivators,  sold 
their  little  holdings  and  dropped  to  the  rank  of  the  farm 
laborer. 

Wheat  was  produced  at  less  cost  on  the  large  estates,  but 
England  lost  much  in  the  process.  Even  Arthur  Young 
laments  the  disappearance  of  the  freeholders.  The  stal- 
wart yeomen  who  had  been  the  main  support  of  Cromwell 
and  the  Puritan  Revolution  were  hardly  to  be  found  in 
England  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  They  had 
been  driven  from  the  land  to  make  room  for  improved 
agriculture  under  the  tenant-farmer. 

Here,  too,  invention  played  its  part  in  furthering  an  in- 
dustrial  transformation.     The    introduction  of   agricultural 

1  In  the  second  period,  four  thousand  enclosure  acts  were  passed  affect- 
ing four  thousand  out  of  the  ten  thousand  parishes  in  England.  The  trans- 
formation was  most  complete  in  the  southern  and  eastern  counties.  In 
Cumberland  and  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  in  Scotland,  Wales,  and 
Ireland,  the  small  holdings  still  persist. 


Disappear- 
ance of  the 
yeoman. 


484 


The  Industrial  Revolution 


Cunning- 
ham, 
pp.  185-193. 

Cunning- 
ham, 
pp.  195-197- 

Traill,  VI, 
211-216. 

Traill,  VI, 
404-420. 

Traill,  VI, 
599-606. 


Cunning- 
ham, 
pp.  231-233. 


machinery  gave  the  wealthy  landowner  an  advantage  in 
production  comparable  to  that  of  the  capitalist  manufac- 
turer. Science,  machinery,  and  the  tendency  to  great  estates 
combined  to  bring  about  the  agricultural  revolution. 

Decline  of  Agriculture.  —  The  repeal  of  the  Corn  Law 
(1846J  was  carried  through  against  the  protest  of  the  landed 
aristocracy,  who  dreaded  the  reduction  in  rents  that  must 
follow  the  fall  in  the  price  of  grain.  The  disaster  did  not 
arrive  so  soon  as  anticipated.  After  the  tariff  was  removed 
the  English  farmer  had  still  the  advantage  of  being  near  his 
customer,  while  his  competitors  in  Russia,  America,  and  Aus- 
tralia must  send  their  products  over-sea.  With  1874,  how- 
ever, a  series  of  bad  seasons  set  in,  when  corn  rotted  in  the 
furrow  and  cattle  perished  of  disease.  At  the  same  time, 
improved  facilities  for  ocean  carriage  brought  grain  and 
refrigerated  beef  to  the  English  markets  at  a  fraction  of 
former  rates.  This  meant  cheap  and  abundant  food,  but  it 
rendered  agriculture  unprofitable  on  all  but  the  richest  lands. 
In  the  poorer  districts,  proprietors  were  obliged  to  reduce 
their  rents  by  half.  F>en  so,  many  farmers  abandoned  the 
attempt  to  make  two  ends  meet,  fields  were  converted  into 
pasture,^  and  laborers  were  thrown  out  of  employraent.- 
It  is  not  strange  that  to-day  the  agricultural  interest  clamors 
for  the  revival  of  protection. 

The  Farm  Laborers.  —  Work  in  the  fields  does  not  stand 
in  such  need  of  protective  legislation  as  factory  labor.  The 
hours  are  long  during  the  summer  season,  and  the  tasks 
often  severe,  but  there  is  plenty  of  fresh  air  and  wholesome 
exercise.  Women  and  children  at  work  in  the  fields  suffer 
under  no  such  physical  disadvantages  as  the  factory  opera- 
tive, but  the  engrossing  nature  of  the  employment  leaves 
little  time  for  schooHng  or  for  home  life.  Exhaustive  in- 
quiries have  made  evident  that  the  ignorance  and  brutality 

1  Three  million  acres  were  converted  to  pasture  in  the  two  decades  from 
1867  to  1887. 

■^  Number  of  farm  laborers  in  England  and  Wales  :  1871,996,642;  1881. 
890,174;   1891,  798,912. 


The  Agricultural  Union 


485 


of  the  rural  population  are  in  large  part  due  to  the  condi-   Report  of 
tions   of  agricultural  labor,  Parhamen- 

Parlianient  has  done  something  toward  meeting  this  de-    miJsio*'r'of 
mand.    In  1867,  a  law  was  passed  regulating  the  employment   1843  and 
of  women  and   children  in  gangs.     Every  gang-master  must    1873. 
be  licensed,  no  child  under  eight  years  may  be  hired,  women 
are  not  allowed  to  go  to  the  field  in  the  same  gangs  with  men, 
and  the  distance  the   laborers  may  be  obliged  to  walk  is 
limited.    The  Agricultural  Children's  Act,  1873,  was  repealed 
almost  as  soon   as  passed,  but  the  requirement  of  school 
attendance  to  the  age  of  thirteen  insures  a  primary  educa- 
tion to  the  children,  and  various  efforts  in  the  direction  of 
sanitary   dwellings   have    rendered   living    conditions   more 
tolerable. 

The  Agricultural  Union.  —  The  greatest  obstacle  to  the 
advancement  of  the  agricultural  labor,  viz.  inadequate  earn- 
ings, might  not  be  so  easily  overcome.  Able-bodied  men. 
were  customarily  paid  seven,  nine,  and  eleven  shillings 
a  week,  a  sum  that  left  little  opportunity  for  saving 
after  living  expenses  were  paid.  Among  men  so  scat- 
tered and  so  ignorant,  cooperative  effort  was  difficult,  but 
a  trade  union  of  agricultural  laborers  was  attempted.  In 
1872,  Joseph  Arch,  a  hedger  of  Warwickshire,  set  on  Joseph 
foot  a  movement  to  demand  shorter  hours  and  better  pay.  Arch. 
The  farm  laborers  of  Suffolk  struck  for  higher  wages  in 
the  summer  of  that  year,  and  though  they  did  not  obtain 
all  they  asked,  they  succeeded  in  impressing  the  farmers 
with  the  wisdom  of  avoiding  another  such  demonstration 
by  timely  concessions.  The  wages  paid  for  field  work 
are  still  lower  than  in  any  other  employment,  and  the 
more  ambitious  men  go  to  the  towns  in  search  of  higher 
earnings. 

The  rural  population  soon  found  champions  among  the 
Liberal  leaders.  The  extension  of  the  £^\o  householder 
suffrage  to  the  rural  districts  (1884)  gave  the  agricultural 
laborer  his  first  opportunity  to  influence  legislation.  The 
additional  vote   (870,000)   was  twice  that  of  the  landlords 


486  TJie  Industrial  Revolution 

and  farmers  combined.     Joseph  Arch  was  sent  to  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  strong  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
that  body  by  the  newly  enfranchised.     Sir  Charles  Dilke  and 
Small  Hold-  Jesse  CoUings  urged  that  every  laborer  be  put  in  possession 
ings  Act,         (,f  i;ji-j(^  enough  to  provide  his  family  with  food.     The  Small 
^^^"  Agricuhural  Holdings  Act  (1892)  enabled  laborers  to  pur- 

chase plots  of  land  large  enough  for  market  gardening  or 
small  farming.  The  county  councils  were  empowered  to  buy 
estates  and  divide  them  into  small  tracts  for  sale  or  rent  and 
to  loan  capital  at  low  rates  of  interest  to  enable  men  to 
build  on  their  land.  The  law  was  revised  in  1906  in  the 
direction  of  affording  more  generous  terms  to  would-be  pur- 
chasers. The  Campbell-Bannerman  Ministry  has  offered  a 
thousand-acre  tract  of  crown  land  to  actual  cultivators  in 
small  allotments.  *  If  this  policy  is  consistently  pursued, 
England  may  once  more  become  a  country  of  peasant 
proprietors. 

Pauperism.  —  Any  review  of  the  social  and  industrial  con- 
ditions of  modern  England  would  be  incomplete  without 
some  notice  of  the  growth  of  pauperism  and  the  efforts  made 
to  check  this  menace  to  the  nation's  health.  The  industrial 
upheaval  of  the  past  hundred  years  has  been  attended  by 
results  both  good  and  bad.  An  immense  gain  in  material 
wealth  has  been  achieved  at  the  expense  of  the  well-being 
of  the  laborers  immediately  concerned.  Improved  farming, 
no  less  than  machinery,  has  deprived  thousands  of  the  means 
of  self-support  and  driven  them  to  seek  aid  at  the  hands  of 
parish  officers  or  private  almsgivers.^  From  1750  to  1820, 
the  years  in  which  the  factory  system  was  becoming  estab- 
lished and  enclosures  were  being  made,  the  growth  of 
pauperism  was  appalling.     The  poor-rate  augmented  till  it 

1  Poor-rate  per  head  of  population  :  — 
1750  .  .  .  2J. 

.    1760  .         .         .         y. 

1770         .         .         .        3^. 
1780         .        .         .        4J. 

1790    .    .    .    S-^- 
1800    .        .        .        %s. 

I8IO     .     .     .    lOJ. 


■2d. 

1818 

1820 

bd. 

1830 

Sd. 

* 

lid. 

1890 

Sd. 

3d- 

13^. 

4d. 

12s. 

id. 

gs. 

gd. 

Ss.     gd. 


Pauperism  487 

reached  the  alarming  proportions  of  one-fourth  the  national 
revenue,  and  the  burden  on  the  taxpayer  was  intolerable. 

The  phenomenal  increase  in  the  number  of  paupers  was 
due  in  part  to  unwise  methods  of  relief,  in  part  to  the 
disturbing  effects  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  in  part  to  the 
mischievous  corn  laws  that  not  infrequently  raised  the  price 
of  bread  to  famine  rates;  but  the  main  cause  was  the  indus- 
trial change  that  rendered  opportunity  for  employment  un- 
certain and  left  laborers  dependent  on  precarious  wages. 
Parliament  undertook  to  reduce  poverty  by  the  regulation  of  Poor  Law  of 
out-door  relief,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  work-test  for  the  '^'^^'^• 
able-bodied.  The  burden  of  the  poor-rate  is  now  but  one- 
third  of  what  it  was  in  1S34,  and  the  number  of  paupers  has 
been  greatly  reduced,  but  there  is  still  the  problem  of  the 
unemployed.  In  the  winters  of  1904  and  1905,  London  wit- 
nessed such  monster  demonstrations  as  had  occurred  in  1848 
and  in  1887,  and  the  government  could  offer  no  solution. 

The  unemployed  problem  is  not  peculiar  to  England,  but 
the  chronic  ditificulty  has  been  aggravated  there  by  general 
industrial  depression.  The  cotton  famines  of  1863  and  1902, 
the  loss  of  foreign  markets  consequent  on  American  and 
German  competition,  burdensome  taxation  entailed  by  the 
Boer  war  and  other  minor  causes  have  checked  business 
enterprises  along  many  lines  and  thrown  thousands  of  men 
and  women  out  of  work.  The  number  of  bona  fide  laborers 
now  unemployed  is  estimated  at  four  per  cent  of  the  total 
industrial  army.  The  figure  seems  insignificant,  but  the 
proportion  has  steadily  increased  since  1900,  and  one 
twenty-fifth  of  the  would-be  wage-earners  is  never  a  negligible 
quantity.  Tramps  infest  the  rural  districts  and  in  the  towns 
pauperism  '  is  everywhere  on  the  increase. 

There  is  no  single  solution  of  the  problem.  Compara- 
tively few  of  the  unemployed  could  work  land  to  advantage 
even  if  put  in  full  possess.  )n.  The  Salvation  Arr.  '  on  its 
farm  colonies  is  endeavoring  to  fit  men  for  agriculi  ire  and 

1  The  sum  annually  expended  in  poor  relief  (_^i5, 256,000)  is  greater  than 
that  spent  for  primary  schools  (_^I3, 351,000). 


488  TJic  Industrial  Revolution 

sends  30,000  emigrants  to  Canada  each  year.  The  Bureau 
of  Emigration  is  assisting  unemployed  artisans  to  remove 
to  Canada,  South  Africa,  and  other  British  colonies  where 
there  is  dearth  of  laborers.  The  Liberal  ministry  may 
adopt  John  Burns's  suggestion  and  undertake  extensive  gov- 
ernment works  for  the  sake  of  furnishing  employment  to 
superfluous  wage-earners.  Mother  England  seems  unable  to 
provide  for  all  her  children  and  is  fain  to  send  them  abroad 
in  search  of  bread. 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  431. 

Aborigines,  11. 

Acadia,  settlement  of,  27S. 

Act,  Agricultural  Children's,  1873, 
485;  Agricultural  Holdings,  443; 
Agricultural  Land  Rating,  453; 
Coalition,  1783,  405;  1800,  474; 
Coal  Mines  Regulation,  453 ; 
Conventicle,  335;  Corporation, 
334;  Elementary  Education,  435; 
Enclosure,  482  ;  Factory,  426,  476; 
Five  Mile,  336;  Irish  Land,  430, 
444;  Labourers'  Dwellings,  443; 
Land  Purchase,  447;  Licensing, 
1695,369;  Local  Government  for 
Ireland,  447,  451;  Navigation, 
327,356;  Occasional  Conformity, 
326;  Reform,  1832,  423,  424; 
Reform,  1S67,  435;  Reform,  1884, 
444;  Regulating,  408;  Schism, 
376;  Septennial,  378;  Small 
Agricultural  Holdings,  486;  Small 
Dwellings  Acquisition,  453 ; 
Stamp,  401;  Ten  Hours,  476; 
Test,  152,  256,  289;  Test,  1673, 
341,  349.  350.  444;  Trades 
Union,  475;  Triennial,  309,  370, 
378;  Workmen's  Compensation 
for  Accident,  453. 

Act  of.  Amnesty,  T,;i2<  Attainder, 
365;  Habeas  Corpus,  345,  410; 
Security,  374;  Settlement,  364, 
365,  370;  Succession,  233;  Su- 
premacy, 230,  233,  248,  279,  290; 
the  Six  Articles,  234,  237;  Tol- 
eration, 329,  364;  Uniformity,  the, 
248,  256,  334,  ^^'i;  Union,  374, 
414,  437- 

Addington,  415. 

^^lla  and  Cissa,  30. 


Africa,  405,  409,  441. 

Agincourt,  battle  of,  193. 

Agricola,  21. 

Agricultural  Children's  Act,  1873, 
485. 

Agricultural  Holdings  Act,  443; 
Small,  486. 

Agricultural  Land  Rating  Act,  453. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  treaty  of,  393,  394. 

Alexandria,  battle  of,  412. 

Alfred,  40;  work  of,  for  govern- 
ment, 44,  45;  for  literature,  45- 
47;  for  industry,  47. 

Ameiica,  269,  280,  327,  336—337; 
371,  392,  394,  398;  alienation  of 
colonies,  399,  402 ;  review  of  colo- 
nial affairs,  390;  right  of  taxa- 
tion, 40c;  independence,  403; 
effect  of  Napoleonic  wars,  417; 
War  of  1812,  417;  Irish  party  in, 
438. 

Amiens,  peace  of,  412,  414. 

Angles,  28. 

Anglo-Saxon  civilization,  50-53 ;  ag- 
riculture, 50;  manufactures,  51; 
trade,   52;    political  organization, 

53- 
Anne  Bcleyn,  225,  232,  233. 
Anne  of  Cleves,  235. 
Anne,  Queen,  371,  376. 
Antigua,  acquisition  of,  295. 
Arch,  Joseph,  485. 
Architecture,    under   Normans,    84; 

to  death   of   Edward  I,    145;    in 

sixteenth  century,  281. 
Argyle,  Earl  of,  348. 
Arkwright,       Richard,      467,      471, 

474- 
Armada,  the,  260. 
Armenia,  453,  454. 


489 


490 


Index 


Army,  Folk-moot,  33;  Alfred's,  41; 
William  ll's,  76;  progression  of, 
106;  petition  of  right,  299;  Crom- 
well's, 314;  "New  Model,"  315, 
318,  321;  military  rule,  326; 
counterpoised  by  navy,  327;  cost, 
328;  in  power,  328;  disband- 
ment,  334;  under  Charles  II,  339; 
Test  Act,  341,  349;  Irish  army, 
364,  412;  use  of  bayonet,  366; 
■  reduction,  370;  Hanoverians  in 
army,  392;  Highland  regiment, 
393;  reorganized  by  Pitt,  395; 
against  Napoleon,  412;  volun- 
teers, 415;  condition  in  Crimean 
War,  431;  abclition  of  bought 
commissions,  440. 

Arthur,  30. 

Ashley.     Sec  Shaftesbury,  339,  342. 

Aske,  Robert,  234. 

Assiento  Grant,  the,  375,  379, 
382. 

Assingdun,  battle  of,  63. 

Assize  of  Clarendon,  98. 

Atbara,  battle  of,  455. 

Augustine  in  Britain,  33. 

Australia,  409,  459. 

Austrian  Succession,  war  of,  392, 
394,  395- 

Babington's  plot,  259. 

Bacon,  Lord,  295,  354. 

Bacon,  Roger,  126,  284. 

Balfour,  452,  460. 

Balliol,  John,  139. 

Bank  of  England,  369  n.,  421. 

Bannockburn,  battle  of,   153. 

Baptists,  335. 

Barbadoes,  acquisition  of,  295. 

Barbaric  invasions,  26 

Barnet,  battle  of,  201. 

Barons,  War,  the,  126,   130;    revolt 

of,  103 
Beaconsfield.     See  Disraeli. 
Beaufort,  Bishop,  194. 
Bechuanaland,  445. 
Becket,    Thomas    a,    97,    99,    loi, 

232  n. 
Bedford,  dukes  of,   194,  398. 
Beit,  Alfred,  256. 
Berlin  Decree,  415;    Congress,  441. 


Bible,  translated  by  Wiclif,  175;  l^y 
Coverdalc,     232;      King    James', 

Bill  of  Attainder,  235  n.,  308. 

Bill  of  Rights,  329,  364. 

Bishops,  Trial  of  the  Seven,  351. 

Black  Death,  the,   159,   180,  204. 

"Black  Hole"  of  Calcutta,  396. 

Black  Prince,  the,  160. 

Blake,  Admiral,  327,  328,  333. 

Blenheim,    battle    of,    372. 

Bloody  Assizes,  348. 

Board  of  Control,  408. 

Boers,  445. 

Boer  War,  456. 

Bolingbroke,  Henry,  Duke  of  Here- 
ford, 166. 

Bolingbroke,  Lord,  376,  378,  382; 
his  Patriot  King,  397. 

Bonner,  Bishop,  238. 

Bosworth  Field,  battle  of,  203, 
213. 

Botha,  General,  462. 

BothwcU,  Earl  of,  252. 

Bouvines,  battle  of,  121. 

Boxer  Rising,  454. 

Boyne,  battle  of  the,  365. 

Breda,  Declaration  of,  330,  2>ZZ't 
peace  of,  337,  356. 

Bretigny,  peace  of,  160. 

Bretwalda,  37. 

Bright,  John,  434,  447. 

British  Columbia,  487. 

British  Isles,  the,  area  and  popula- 
tion of,  I ;  relation  to  Europe  of,  2 ; 
commercial  advantages  of,  3 ;  navi- 
gable rivers  of,  3;  climate  of,  4; 
industrial  wealth  of,  4;  physical 
endowment  of,  4;  political  divi- 
sions of,  5 ;  relation  of  industrial 
opportunity  to  population  in,  10; 
Aborigines  of,  11,  12;  first  inter- 
course between  the  continent  and, 
16;  Roman  conquest  of,  19;  e.x- 
tent  of  the  Roman  province  in,  21 ; 
character  of  Roman  rule  in,  22; 
Barbarian  invasions  of,  26;  Saxon 
conquest  of,  and  its  effects,  28-32. 
Sec  England,  Ireland,  Scotland, 
Wales. 

Bruce,  Robert,  144,  153. 


Index 


491 


Buckingham,  George  Villiers,  Duke 

of,  291,  2g5,   296,  299. 
Bulgaria,   441,   442. 
Bunyan,  330,  354. 
Burgh,  Hubert  de,  123,  127,  129. 
Burke,  Edmund,  385,  401,  404,  408, 

409;   his  Refieclions  on  the  French 

Revolution,  410. 
Burleigh,  William  Cecil,  Lord,  248, 

256. 
Burns,  422. 
Burns,  John,  440. 
Bute,   Lord,  398,  399. 
Butler,  Bishop,  386. 
Butt,   Isaac,   443. 
Byron,  422. 

Cabal,  the,  339,  342. 
Cabots,  the,  276,  278. 
Cade,  Jack,  198. 
Calvin,  John,  244. 
Campbell-Bannerman,      460,      461, 

463,  486. 
Camperdown,  battle  of,  411. 
Canada,  278,  395,  409,  459,  488. 
Canals,  477. 
Canute,  62,  63. 
Cape  Colony,  444. 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  390,  444,  417. 
Cape  Vincent,  battle  of,  411. 
Carolinas  settled,  356. 
Carteret,  392. 
Cartwright,  469. 
Catharine  of  Aragon,  224,  230,  233, 

242. 
Cavaliers,  310. 
Caxton,  William,  209. 
Cecil,  Robert,  291. 
Celts,  the,  13;   first  settlements,  17; 

conquered,  49. 
Cerdic,  30,  44. 

Chamberlain,  Joseph,  447,  452,  458. 
Charles  I,  292,  295,  320. 
Charles  H,  321,  329,  332,  347. 
Charles  Edward,  Prince,  393. 
Charter,  the  Great,   109,    117,    121, 

123,  128;    renewal  of,  142. 
Charters,  confirmation  of,  142,  151, 

298. 
Chartists,  426,  429,  444. 
Chatham,  Earl  of.     See  Pitt. 


Chatham-Grafton      Ministry,      the, 
401 . 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  167. 

Christian  Brethren,  228. 

Christianity,  introduction  of,  in  Eng- 
land, 7,^. 

Church,  in  Great  Britain,  first  tri- 
umph of  the  Christian,  7,7^ ;  of  the 
Saxon  kingdoms,  organized,  35, 
36;  conversion  of  the  Danes,  59, 
60 ;  relation  to  the  state  under  the 
Norman  kings,  83-86;  quarrel 
with  Henry  H,  98-101 ;  quarrel 
with  John,  1 18-120;  the  Friar 
Movement,  124-127;  Edward  I 
and  the,  142;  wealth  and  corrup- 
tion of,  fourteenth  century,  170- 
172 ;  Wiclif  and  the  reform  move- 
ment, 173-175;  Lollardism,  176; 
the  corruption  of,  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  204;  Protestant  reforma- 
tion, 226-228;  attack  on  the 
monasteries,  230;  Act  of  Suprem- 
acy, 230;  progress  in  doctrinal  re- 
form, 232;  Forty-two  Articles, 
239;  persecution  of  the  Protes- 
tant, 243;  Test  Act,  256;  eccle- 
siastical policy  of  Elizabeth,  248, 
254,  256,  263;  independent  sect 
in,  264;  James  I  and  the,  287; 
Hampton  Court  Conference,  288, 
303 ;  Commons  and,  299 ;  Laud, 
302;  the  question  in  1641,  308; 
the  Covenant,  313;  Charles  and, 
334;  trial  of  the  seven  bishops, 
351;  William  IH  and  the  revolu- 
tion settlement,  363  ;  the  Metho- 
dist revival,  385 ;  political  in- 
fluence on  preferment,  402 ;  the 
Irish,  412,  446. 
Churchill,    Duke    of    Marlborough, 

368,   371-   372,   373- 
Churchill,    Lord    Randolph,    445. 
Churchill,  Winston,  461. 
Cinque  Ports,  274. 
Civil  war,  155,  311;  second  civil  war, 

320. 
Claim  of  Right,  the,  366. 
Clarendon,  Constitutions  of,  100. 
Clarendon,  Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of, 

232,  337- 


492 


Index 


Clarence,  Duke  of,   i<)8. 
Claudius,  invasion  under,   19. 
Clive,  Robert,  396,  420. 
Coalition  Act,   474. 
Coalition,  the,  of  1783,  405;  of  1800, 

474-^ 

Coalition   Cabinet,  445. 

Coal  Mines  Regulation  Act,  453. 

Cobbett,  422;  his  Weekly  Political 
Register,  422. 

Colonial  enterprises,  295;  their 
early  character,  296 ;  rivalry  with 
Spain  and  Holland,  355;  policy 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  399, 
400;   new  policy  of,  409;  rivals  in, 

355-357- 

Colonies,  278,  336,  371,  375,  379; 
Ceylon  and  Trinidad  retained, 
412;  acquisitions  from  Napo- 
leonic wars,  417;  India,  442; 
Australia,  459;  Africa,  441;  im- 
perial federation,  458. 

Commerce,  advantages  of  England 
for,  3-4;  principal  harbors  for,  3; 
Pha'nician  trading,  16;  Saxon,  52; 
Norman  revival  of,  80;  Angevin 
expansion  of,  94,  iii,  113;  inter- 
ference of  war  with,  209;  Tudor 
supremacy  in,  268;  Tudor  explo- 
ration and,  276;  Navigation  Act, 
327;  depression  of,  under  Charles 
II.  337;  review,  354-355:  union 
with  Scotland,  374;  South  Sea 
Bubble,  379;  colonial  expansion, 
381 ;  free  trade  with  France,  407; 
with  Ireland,  414;  Berlin  decree, 
415;  benefit  from  Napoleonic 
wars,  417;  fictitious  prosperity, 
421;  free  trade,  458;  transpor- 
tation, 477;  imperial  policy  and 
"the  open  door,"  495. 

Commonwealth,  the,  321,  329. 

Conservative  party,  426. 

Constantine,  26. 

Conventicle  Act,  335. 

Coote,  396. 

Copenhagen,  battle  of,  412. 

Corn  laws,  421;  repealed,  428;  ef- 
fects of,  437,  484,  485. 

Cornwallis,   Lord,  409. 

Corporation  Act,   334,  335,  350. 


Council   of  Trent,   245. 
"Count  of  the  Sax(;n  Shore,"  26. 
Counter-Reformation,  the,  246. 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  133. 
Court    of    High    Commission,    263, 

304,  308. 
Courtenay,  Bishop,  174. 
Covenanters,  250,  306,  345. 
Cranmer,  Archljishop,  230,  238,  239, 

241,  243- 
Crecy,  battle  of,  157,  193. 
Crete,  454. 
Crimean  War,  431. 
Cromer,  Lord,  455,  457. 
Crompton,  Samuel,  468. 
Cromwell,    Oliver,    310,    314,    321, 

328,  333,  356. 
Cromwell,  Richard,  329. 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  229,  233,  235. 
Crusades,  3,  107. 
Cuba,  398. 

Culloden,  battle  of,  390. 
Cumberland,   Duke  of,   393. 
Curia  Regis,  73,  97,  100. 
Customs  duties,   25,   151,   291,  299, 

380,   407,   428,   484;    free  trade, 

458; 
Cymric,  30. 
Cyprus,  acquisition  of,  442. 

Danby,  Earl  of,  342. 

Danegeld,  62,  74. 

Danelagh,  41,  69. 

Danes,  the,  or  Northmen,  37,  41; 
migrations  of,  56;  settlements  of, 
in  Normandy,  57  ;  in  England,  60- 

63,  70- 
Darby,  Abraham,  481. 
Darnley,  Lord  Henry,  252. 
David,  136. 
Declaration  of  Indulgence,  340-341, 

349,  351- 
Declaration  of  Rights,  354,  364. 
Derby,  Lord,  435. 
Dettingen,  battle  of,  392. 
Diarmit,  King,  102. 
Disabling  Act,  344. 
Disraeli,  433,  435,  438,  441,  442. 
Domesday  Survey,  73,  86,  89,  90, 
Dominica,  battle  off,  405. 
Dover,  treaty  of,  340,  356. 


Index 


493 


Downs,  battle  of  the,  336. 
Drake,  Sir  Francis,  278. 
"Duke  of  the  Britons,"  26. 
Dunbar,  battles  of,  140,  323. 
Dunning's  Resolution,  404. 
Dunstan,   Archbishop,   49. 

Ealdormen,  60. 

East  India  Company,  277,  391,  432. 

Ecclesiastical  Unity,  attainment  of, 

35- 

Edgar,  49. 

Edgehill,  battle  of,  313. 

Edinburgh,  treaty  of,  251. 

Edmund  Ironside,  63. 

Edric,  63. 

Education,  Alfred's  schools,  46; 
intellectual  advances,  82;  uni- 
versities, 110;  friars,  126;  Eng- 
lish used  in  schools,  167;  Eton 
founded,  209;  the  new  learning 
of  the  Tudors,  283;  founding  of 
grammar  schools,  283;  Act  cf 
Uniformity,  334;  Schism  Act, 
376;  board  schools,  435;  reli- 
gious tests  abolished  in  universi- 
ties, 439;  for  factory  children, 
476. 

Edward  the  Confessor,  64. 

Edward  the  Elder,  47,  49. 

Edward  I,  132,  144. 

Edward  II,  152  ;  civil  war  and  abdi- 
cation, 155. 

Edward  III,  156;   French  wars,  156. 

Edward  IV,  201,  209. 

Edward  VI,  236. 

Edward  VII,  457. 

Edwin,  -x^Tj. 

Egypt,    412;     Egyptian    Question, 

445.  456- 

Election  petitions,  382. 

Elector  Palatine,  292,  294. 

Eliot,  Sir  John,  291,  297,  300. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  240,  242,  244,  265. 

Enclosure,  482. 

England,  facilities  for  commerce,  3 ; 
industrial  divisions  of,  6;  early 
inhabitants,  11-18;  Roman  rule 
of,  19-26;  Saxon  conquest  and  its 
effects  on,  28-35;  Danish  rule  in, 
60-63;  Norman  concjuest  of,  67; 


results  of,  82 ;  development  of, 
under  the  early  Angevins,  94-11 1 ; 
organization  of  the  judiciary,  132; 
intellectual  revival  during  the  four- 
teenth century  in,  166;  industrial 
progress,  176;  wages,  181,  207; 
the  people,  206;  intellectual  de- 
cadence in  the  fifteenth  century, 
209;  age  of  transition,  213;  finan- 
cial measures,  217;  foreign  policy 
under  Henry  VII,  218;  arbiter  of 
Europe,  224;  position  at  time  of 
Elizabeth,  246;  foreign  affairs 
under  Elizabeth,  253;  transforma- 
tion of  England  under  the  Tudors, 
268;  agricultural  revolution,  271; 
decay  of  towns,  272;  growth  of 
manufactures,  273;  Tudor  explo- 
ration and  commerce,  276;  change 
in  order  of  society,  279;  social 
habits,  281 ;  beginning  of  maritime 
supremacy,  327;  union  with  Scot- 
land, 374;  union  with  Ireland, 
412;  Colonial  undertakings,  399; 
Imperial  policy,  409;  Eastern 
Question,  430;  local  government, 
447;  Socialism,  457;  canals,  477; 
transportation,  477;  agricultural 
revolution,  482.  5ee  British  Isles, 
Scotland,  Ireland. 

Essex,  earls  of,  263,  313,  315. 

Etheltlajda,  47,  49. 

Ethelred  the  Unready,  60. 

Ethelwulf,  40. 

Europe,  relation  of  British  Isles 
to,   2. 

Evesham,  battle  of,  132. 

Exchequer,  the,  133. 

Exclusion  Bill,  344,  346. 

Factory  Acts,   426,   476. 

Falkirk,  battle  of,   144. 

Falkland,  311. 

Fashoda,  445.  455- 

Fawkes,  Guy,  289. 

Fenians,  438. 

Feudal  system  inaugurated,  72;  ap- 
plied to  the  church,  85  ;  last  feudal 
rising,  104;  destroyed  as  a  system 
of  government,  106;  killed  by 
statute    of    Quia   Emjptores,    133; 


494 


Index 


reversion  to,  206,  292 ;  dues  abol- 
ished, 334. 

Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  223. 

Filmer,  354. 

Finance:  Industrial  Wealth,  4; 
Coinage,  81 ;  The  Domesday  Sur- 
vey, 73,  86,  89,  90;  Measures, 
Policies,  or  Conditions  of,  during 
successive  reigns:  —  Henry  II, 
104;  Richard  I,  109;  John,  122; 
Henry  III,  127;  Edward  I,  133, 
149 ;  Edward  II,  153,  159;  Richard 
II,  164,  172,  181;  Henry  IV,  188; 
Edward  IV,  202;  Henry  VII, 
218-220;  Henry  VIII,  226,  239; 
Elizabeth,  264,  279-281 ;  James  I, 
290,  292,  294;  Charles  I,  296,  300, 
303,  311;  Cromwell,  325;  Charles 
II,  334;  William  III,  363;  George 
I,  379;  George  III,  392,  399,  403; 
French  pension,  340,  342,  348; 
National  Debt,  369;  South  Sea 
Bubble,  379;  Walpole,  380; 
Pitt  the  younger,  407;  peace  of 
Amiens,  412;  Napoleonic  War 
Debt,  42 1 ;  the  Crimean  War, 
431;   Home  Rule,  447. 

Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  233. 

Fitz-Peter,  Geoflrey,   108,   120. 

Five-Mile  Act,  336. 

Flanders,  loss  of,  164;  artisans 
from,  177. 

Flodden,  battle  of,  224. 

Forty-two  Articles,  239. 

Fox,  Chas.  James,  403,  405,  406. 

France,  war  with,  117,  139,  156,  191, 

356,  370,  411- 
Frederick  of  Prussia,  390,  398. 
Free  Trade,  428,  458. 
French  Possessions,  loss  of,   195. 
French  Revolution,  the,  409;  effect 

in    England,    421,    422,    423;     in 

1848,  429. 
Friar  Movement,  the,  124. 
Frobisher,  278. 
Fulton,  477. 

Gardiner,  Bishop,   238,   240. 
Gaveston,   Piers,   152. 
George  I,  376-379. 
George  II,  377,  380,  396. 


George  HI,  397,  398,  402. 

George  IV,  423. 

Ghent,  treaty  of,  418. 

Gibraltar  captured,  372,  405,   409. 

Gilbert,  279. 

Gilds,  Merchants',  112;    Craftgilds, 

179,181;   decay  of,  273;   effect  of, 

468. 
Gladstone,  434,  438,  439,  443,  444, 

447,  451,   452- 
Glendcwcr,  Owen,  190. 
Gloucester,  Duke  of,  165,  194,  202. 
Godolphin,  Lord,  371. 
Godwin,  Earl  of  Wessex,  64. 
Gordon,  General,  445. 
Goschen,  447. 
Goths,  28. 
Grafton,  401. 
Grand  Assize,  98. 
Grand  Remonstrance,  the,  310. 
"Great  Intercourse,  the  "   (treaty), 

276. 
Great  Schism,  the,   172. 
Grenville,  398,  399,  400. 
Grey,  Lady  Jane,  240,  242. 
Grey,  Lord,  410,  423,  424,  425,  449. 
Grosseteste,   Bishop,    128,    129. 
Gunpowder  Plot,  289. 

Habeas  Corpus  Act,  345,  45 o- 

Hadrian,  24. 

Hales,  Sir  Edmund,  349. 

Hampden,  311. 

Hampden  Clubs,  422. 

Hardie,  Keir,  460. 

Hargreaves,  468,  474. 

Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  375. 

Harold,  63. 

Hartington,  Lord,  447. 

Hastings,  the  Dane,  raid  of,  4i-44- 

Hastings,  battle  of,  67. 

Hastings,  Warren,  408. 

Hawkins,  278. 

Heads  of  the  Proposals,  320. 

Hengist  and  Horsa,  30. 

Henry  I,  76. 

Henry  II,  93;  condition  of  England, 

94;  position  on  the  continent,  95; 

pacification   of   England,   95. 
Henry  III,  the  minority  of,  123;  rule 

of,  127. 


Index 


495 


Henry  IV,  i88. 

Henry   V,    191;    war  with   France, 

191-194. 
Henry  VI,  194-200,  201. 
Henry  VII,  213. 
Henry  VIII,  219,  220. 
Heptarchy,  36. 
Hereford,       Henry       Bolingbroke, 

Duke  of,  166. 
Hereward  the  Wake,   70. 
Hertford,  Earl  of,  237. 
Hobbes,  354. 
Holland,  maritime  growth  of,  304; 

war  with,   341,  401;    commercial 

rivalry  with,  355,  356;   decline  of, 

356. 
Home  Rule  Bill,  447. 
Honorius,  28. 
Hooker,  284. 
Hotspur,  190. 
Howard,    John,   386. 
Howe,   Lord,   411. 
Hudson's  Bay,  acquisition  of,  405. 
Hyde,   311.     See  Clarendon. 

Iberians,  the,  12. 

Imperial  Customs  Union,  458. 

Important  events,  lists  of,  54,  91, 
114,  146,  185,  210,  265,  331,  358, 
387,  418,  464. 

Independents,  314. 

India,  390,  392,  395,  398,  412; 
sketch  of  history,  391;  Eastern 
Question,  430,  441;  Sepoy  Mu- 
tiny, 433;   review,  442. 

India  Bill,  406. 

Industry,  industrial  wealth,  4;  early 
industry:  12;  Roman,  23;  Saxon, 
47,50;  Norman,  89;  progression, 
176,  268-274,  302,  327,  354,  379; 
Irish  industry  throttled,  412;  im- 
portation of  raw  material  from  col- 
onies, 400;  Berlin  Decree,  415; 
fictitious  prosperity,  421 ;  Factory 
Act,  426;  industrial  revolution, 
467;  inventions,  468,  469;  capital 
and  labor,  revolt  of  labor,  474; 
factory  legislation,  475;  factory 
commission,  476;  Ten  Hours 
Act,  476;  transportation,  477; 
ship-building,  477;    mining,  481; 


agricultural  revolution,  482.  See 
Gilds,  Wages,  Finance,  Com- 
merce. 

Instrument  of  government,  324. 

Inventions,  468-470,  473,  476,  480. 

Ionian  Isles,  417. 

Ireland,  industrial  and  physical  fea- 
tures, 9;  early  affairs,  101;  con- 
quest of,  in  the  time  of  Henry  II, 
102;  under  English  rule,  103; 
under  the  Tudors,  260;  revolt, 
309;  conquest  of,  321;  repre- 
sentation accorded  in  Parliament, 
325;  revolution  against  William 
III,  363;  legislative  independence 
granted,  405 ;  attempt  at  com- 
mercial freedom,  407 ;  union 
with  England,  412-414;  laws 
against  Catholics  in,  413 ;  destruc- 
tion of  industries  in,  413;  inde- 
pendent Irish  parliament,  413, 
414;  famines,  428,  437;  review 
of  affairs  in,  436;  Catholic  eman- 
cipation, 444;  disestablishment 
of  Church,  438,  443,  447,  448; 
the  Nationalists,  443 ;  Land  Act, 
444;  National  League,  448; 
Local  Government  Act,  452. 

Irish,  loi,  103,  119,  215,  260,  302, 
308,  309,  321,  353,  363,  380,  412, 

437- 
Irish  Land  Act,  439,  444. 
Ironsides,  315. 

Jacobites,  361,  368,  377,  393,  397. 
Jamaica,  acquisition  of,  356. 
James  I,  286. 
James  II,  347,  353,  362,  365,  369, 

371- 

Jameson,  456. 

Jeffreys,  Judge,  348. 

Jesuits,  246,  257,  353. 

Jews,  under  royal  protection,  81; 
banished  by  Edward  I,  134;  re- 
turn of,  329. 

Joan  of  Arc,  195. 

Johannesburg,  456. 

John,  revolt  of,  against  Henry  II, 
106;  against  Richard  I,  108;  ac- 
cession, 116;  revolt  of  barons 
against,   120,   121;    death,   123. 


496 


Index 


John  of  CJaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster, 

164,   173.   1^3- 
Julius    Ciesar,    19. 
Junto,  the,  369,  370. 
Jury  system,  98. 
Jutes,  28. 

Kaffir  War,  445. 

Kay,   John,   468,  474. 

Ket  the  tanner,  239. 

Khartoum,    445,    455. 

KilHecrankie,   battle  of,  366. 

King  WilUam's  War,  368. 

King's  Bench,  133. 

Kingsley,  485. 

Kitchener,  Sir  Herbert,  455,  457. 

Knox,  John,  251. 

Kruger,  Paul,  456. 

Labor,  revolt  of,  474.  See  Com- 
merce,  Industry,   Finance. 

Labouchcre,  450. 

Labourers'    Dwellings   Act,   443. 

La  Hogue,  battle  of,  368. 

Lancaster,  Duke  of.  Sec  John  of 
Gaunt. 

Lancaster,  Thomas,  Earl  of,  152, 
164,  202. 

Land  Act,  439;    Irish,  444. 

Land  Purchase  Act,  459. 

Lanfranc,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 85. 

Langland,  William,   168,   169. 

Langton,  Stephen,  120,  122,  123; 
death  of,  128. 

Latimer,    Bishop,    207,     227,    241, 

243- 

Laud,  Bishop,  300,  3C2,  308. 

Law,  in  England,  under  the  Romans, 
21-23;  under  the  Anglj-Saxons, 
Zl.  44,  45;  Edgar's,  53,  54,  63,  72; 
under  William  I,  72,  73;  under 
William  Rufus,  74,  76;  under 
Henry  I,  76;  reforms  of  the, 
under  Henry  of  Anjou,  97,  98; 
the  Great  Charter,  121;  develop- 
ment of,  under  Edward  I,  132; 
the  Ordinances  of  the  time  of  Ed- 
ward II,  153-155;  regulation  of 
wages  and  labor  by,  180-182,  217; 
strengthened  by  Henry  \TI,  217; 


the  new  order  under  Elizalx'th, 
279-282;  religious  issues  under 
James,  287;  Charles,  306-310; 
the  Commonwealth,  321 ;  Charles 
II,  j,'iZ~'hZ^'i  the  Revolution  of 
1688,  353;  its  results,  360-363; 
William  III,  363-365;  corrup- 
tion of  the  times  of  George  I,  3^5  ; 
refc  rm  movement  of  1 770-1 784, 
402;  of  1815,  421-429;  of  1832, 
432;  more  recent  important 
changes  in,  442-448;  in  church 
matters,  172,  189,  227,  230,  232, 
237,  243,  248,  256,  290,  298,  300, 
3°6,  308,  313,  328,  324,  338,  349, 
351.  361-365.  436-438-  See  also 
Act,  Statute,  etc. 

Leicester,  Earl  of,  254,  259.  Sec 
Montfort. 

Levellers,  the,  328. 

Lewes,  battle  of,  131. 

Liberal   party,   426. 

Licensing  Act,  369. 

Limerick,  treaty  of,  365,  412. 

Lincoln,  battle  of,  79. 

Literature,  under  Alfred,  45;  under 
Henr}-  I,  80,  109;  thirteenth 
century,  144;  revival,  166-171; 
printing,  209;  renaissance,  283; 
at  close  of  seventeenth  century, 
354;  liberty  cf  t'ne  press,  369; 
Swift,  380.     Se:  Bi'  le. 

Llewelyn,  136. 

Local  Government  .\rt,  44S;    Irish, 

447.  451- 
Locke,  354. 

Lollards,  the,  176,  182,  189,  204. 
London,    18;     charter  granted,   91; 

fire  of,  337;    charter  confiscated, 

346. 
Longchamp,  William,  Bishop,   107. 
Lord  Marchers,  the,  69,  190. 
Lords  Appellant,    165,    188,   202. 
Lords  of  the  Congregation,   250. 
Lords  Ordainers,  the,    153. 
Lowe,  Robert,  435. 
Lowestoft,  battle  of,  336. 
Lud,  god  cf  commerce,  18. 
Luddites,   the,   474. 
Luneville,  treaty  of,  412. 
Luther,  Martin,   226,  229, 


Index 


497 


Mahdist   Revolt,   445. 

Mahratta  War,  407. 

Malcolm  of  Scotland,  70. 

Malmesbury,  William  of,    no. 

Malplaquet    battle  of,   373. 

Malta,  414,  417. 

Manchester    Massacre,    423. 

Manwaring,  300. 

Mar,    Earl  of,  378. 

Marchand,  455. 

Margaret  of  Anjou,   196-200. 

Maria  Theresa,  392. 

Marlborough.     See  Churchill. 

Marston  Moor,  battle  of,  314. 

Mary  Stuart,  235,  237,  249,  251,  256, 
259,  260. 

Mary,  Queen,  239,  240. 

Matilda,  76. 

Mauritius,  417. 

Mercenaries,  63,  79,  95,  104,  121, 
122,  392. 

Millenary  Petition,  288. 

Milton,  329,  354. 

IVIiners'   Federation,   48 1. 

Minorca,  acciuisition  of,  375;  ces- 
sion of,  405. 

Mise  of  Amiens,  131. 

Monasteries,  suppression  of,  230. 

Monk,    General,    329. 

Monmouth,  Duke  of,  345,  348. 

Montague,  300,  369. 

Montfort,  Simon  de,  129,  132,  202. 

Montrose,  316. 

Montserrat,  acquisition  of,  295. 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  233. 

Mortimer,  Roger,  155. 

Mortimer.     See  Cade,  Jack. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  411,  412,  414; 

Berhn    Decree,    415;     Peninsular 

War,  416. 
Naseby,  battle  of,  316. 
Natal,  445. 

Nationalists,   443,   446,   449>   45 1- 
National  League,  448. 
Navigation  Act,  327,  356. 
Navy,  43,  209,  260,  270,  274,  304, 

320,326,336,355,395,412;   after 

Trafalgar,  417;  War  cf  1812,  417  ; 

demonstration  at  Constantinople, 

441. 


Nelson,  Lord,  327,  403,  415. 

Neville,  George,  Archbishop,  204. 

Newcastle,  Duke  of,  392,  394,  400. 

Newcastle  Propositions,  the,  318. 

Newfoundland,    405. 

Newspapers,  369. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  369. 

New  Zealand,   459. 

Nile,  battle  of,  412. 

Nonjurors,  363. 

Non-resistance,  doctrine  of,  335,  351, 
392. 

Norfolk,  Duke  of,  256. 

Norman  Conquest,  67;  social  result 
of,  79;  intellectual  results,  82;  life 
of  people  under.  86;  administra- 
tion of  local  government,  89. 

Normandy,  57;    less  of,  117,  196. 

North,  Lord,  401,  405,  406,  408. 

Northampton,  battle  of,  200. 

North  Briton,   the,   399. 

Northmen,  56-57,  102. 

Northumberland,  the  dukes  of,  239 
256. 

Nova  Scotia,  375,  405,  409 

Gates,  Titus,  344. 

Occasional  Conformity  Act,  376. 

O'Connell,   Daniel,  436. 

O'Connor,   Feargus,   429. 

Odo,  Bishop,  75. 

Omdurman,  battle  of,  455. 

O'Neill,  Shane,   262. 

"Open     door,"     the,     to     Chinese 

Empire,  455- 
Orders  in  Council,  the,  416,  417. 
Ordinances,  the,  153;  repealed,  155. 
Oudenarde,  battle  of,  372. 
Owen,  Robert,  476. 

Paleolithic  Man,   11. 

Palmerston,  Lord,  430,  431.  432- 

Pandulf,  120. 

Paris,  peace  of,  398;   treaty  of,  432. 

Parliament,  first  use  of  the  name  of, 
129;  of  Oxford,  or  the  Mad  Par- 
liament, 130;  of  1265,  131;  Mcdel 
Parliament,  142  ;  organization  of. 
Houses  of  Lords  and  Commons, 
162;  Good  Parliament,  163,  172; 
the    Merciless    ParUament,    165; 


498 


Index 


first  use  of  English  in,  167;  Long 
Parliament,  229;  under  Eliza- 
beth, 264;  4'^dlcd  Parliament, 
291;  Short  Parliament,  306; 
Long  Parliament,  307,  324,  326, 
338;  Rump  Parliament,  321,  328; 
Barebones'  Parliament,  324;  re- 
distribution of  seats,  324;  Con- 
vention Parliament,  333;  Cava- 
lier Parliament,  334,  338;  Tory 
Parliament,  348;  Disabling  Act, 
344;  under  William  III,  360; 
Dublin  Parliament,  365;  Whig 
ministry,  368;  Tory  ministry, 
370;  union  with  Scotland,  374; 
review  to  fall  of  Walpole,  382 ; 
political  corruption,  385,  402; 
reform,  402,  405,  406,  410,  420; 
jurisdiction  over  India,  396;  the 
Radical  Party,  422;  Reform  Bill, 
423;  its  effect,  425  ;  reform  under 
Disraeli,  433,  435;  extension  of 
suffrage,  435,  444,  486;  Catholic 
emancipation,  436;  secret  ballot, 
439;  closure  adopted,  433.  See 
Witan  and  Curia  Regis. 
Parnell,  Charles  Stewart,  443,  446, 

451- 
Patrick,  St.,  2,7,^  53. 
Pauperism  and  its  relief,  280,  426, 

486;    poor  law,  426,  486. 
Peel,  Sir  Robert,  428,  437,  447,  471, 

474,  475- 
Pelham,  Henry,   392,  394. 
Pembroke,  William  Marshall,  Earl 

of,  123. 
Penda,  :^2i- 

Peninsular  War,  416. 
Pennsylvania  settled,   356. 
People's  Charter,  427,  430. 
Perrers,  Alice,  163. 
Petition  and  Advice,  the,  326. 
Petition  of  Right,  298,  301. 
Philip  of  Spain,   242. 
Philiphaugh,   battle  of,   316. 
Philippines,    398. 
Phoenicians,  16. 
Picts,  21,  26. 

Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  the,  234. 
Pinkie,  battle  of,  237. 
Pitt,    William,  394,   395,   398,   402. 


Pitt,  William,  the  younger,  son  of 
above,    406,    407,   408,  410,  412, 

414,  436- 

Plague,   the,  336-337. 

"Plan  of  Campaign,"  448. 

Plasscy,  battle  of,  396. 

Plautius,  19,  20. 

Poitiers,  battle  of,  160. 

Pondicherry,  surrender  of,   396. 

Poor  Law,  426,  487.  See  Pauper- 
ism. 

Popes :  Gregory  VII,  85 ;  Innocent 
III,  118;  England  and  the  Pope, 
128;  Innocent  IV,  128,  130;  re- 
volt of  Europe  against,  213. 

Popish  Plot,  343. 

Porte,  442. 

Poyning,  Sir  Edward,   260. 

Prehistoric  inhabitants,    11. 

Presbyterianism,  257. 

Preston,  battles  of,  320,  378. 

Pretenders,  the:  James  Edward, 
371-  372.  376,  378;  Charles  Ed- 
ward, 393. 

Pride's  Purge,  320. 

Prime  Minister,  first,  383. 

Prison   reform,   386,   409. 

Privateering,  278. 

Protector,  the,  324. 

Provisions  of  Oxford,  131. 

Pularoon  relinquished,  356. 

Puritans,  256,  263,  287,  288,  301, 
?,oz,  314,  328,  347- 

Pym,  John,  291,  307,  310,  314,  333. 

Quakers,  335. 
Quebec,  fall  of,  390,  396. 
"Queen  Anne's  War,"  390. 
Quiberon,  battle  of,  396. 

Radical   party,   the,   422. 

Railroads,  472,  478. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  278,  279,  294. 

Ramillies,  battle  of,  372. 

Rand,  456,  458. 

Ranulf,  the  justiciar,  74-76. 

Redmond,  John,  457,  460. 

Reform  Bill,  of  1832,  423,  424,  425; 

Act  of,   1867,  435;    of  1884,  444; 

movement,  1779,  420,  444. 
Reformation,  the  Protestant,  3,  226. 


Index 


499 


Regulating  Act,  408. 

Reign  of  Terror  in  France,  400. 

Renaissance,  the  English,  3,  283. 

Restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  329. 

Revolt  of  the  barons,  103;  peasants, 
175-181;  under  Glendower,  190; 
under  Oldcastle,  191;  Cade's, 
198;  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace, 
234;  under  Ket,  239;  Wyatt's, 
242;  Irish  peasants,  413;  Chart-' 
ist,  429;  Fenian,  438;  the  Lud- 
dites, 474. 

Revolution,  French,  3,  409. 

Rhodes,  Cecil,  456. 

Rich,  Edmund,   129. 

Richard  de  Clare,  Strongbow,  102. 

Richard  I,  107;  a  crusader,  107, 
108;  influence  in  England  of, 
108,  109. 

Richard  II,  164. 

Richard  III,  202. 

Richmond,   Duke  of,  404. 

Richmond,  Henry  Tudor,  Earl  of, 
203. 

Ridley,  Bishop,  243. 

Ridolfi  plot,  the,  256. 

Rizzio,  252. 

Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  74-77- 

Robin  of  Redesdale,  201. 

Roches,  Peter  des,  B'shop,   127. 

Rochester,  Earl  of,  349. 

Rockingham,    Lord,    398-401,    405, 

413- 
Rockingham  Ministry,  the,  401,  405. 

Rodney,  405. 

Rollo  the  Ganger,  59,  63. 

Romans,  the,  conciuest  of  Britain  by, 
19,  21 ;  the  gains  of  Britain  under 
the  rule  of,  23 ;  losses,  25 ;  colonies 
of,  20;  colonial  life  of,  23;  roads 
of,  23. 

Rosebery,  Lord,  451. 

Roundheads,  310,  311. 

Rupert,  Prince,  313. 

Russell,  Admiral,  368,  369. 

Russell,  Lord,  347,  423,  426,  434. 

Rye  House  plot,  346. 

Ryswick,  peace  of,  368. 

Sacheverell,  Doctor,  373. 
St.  Albans,  battle  of,  198. 


St.  Helena,  356. 

St.  John,  Henry,  372,  376. 

Salic  law,  156. 

Salisbury,  Lord,  445,  446,  448,  451, 
452.  455.  457.  458.  460. 

Salisbury  oath,  the,  73,  74. 

Saxons,  the  invasion  of  Britain  by, 
26;  conquest,  the,  28;  effects  of 
conquest  by,  32. 

Schism  Act,  376. 

Scotland,  industrial  and  physical 
features,  8 ;  conquered  by  William 
1,  70;  revolt  against  Edward  I, 
139;  conquest  of,  140-144;  loss 
of,  153;  revolt  against  Henry  IV, 
190;  defeat  at  Solway  Moss,  235; 
at  Pinkie,  237;  revolt  against 
France,  250;  against  Charles  I, 
306;  royalist  invasion,  320;  in- 
vasion of,  323;  representation  ac- 
corded in  Parliament,  325;  revo- 
lution against  William  III,  365; 
union  with  England,  374;  Jaco- 
bite insurrection,  378;  second 
Jacobite  insurrection,  393;  Local 
Government  Act,  448,  452;  Croft- 
ers' agitation,  448. 

Scots,  8,  21,  26,  69,  97,  104,  119,  137, 
143,  153,  189,  216,  224,  235,  237, 
249.  306,  313,  316,  320,  348,  365. 

Scrope,  Archbishop  of  York,  190. 

Scutage,  104. 

Sebastopol,  fall  of,  432. 

Second  Hundred  Years'  War,  389. 

Sedgemoor,  battle  of,  348. 

Self-denying  ordinance,  315. 

Sepoys,  394,  396,  407. 

Septennial  Act,  378. 

Serfs,  34,  50,  86,  88,  90,  180-184. 
Sec  Villeins. 

Seven  Years'  War,  390,  394,  396. 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  342,  345. 

Shakespeare,  284. 

Shelburne,  Lord,  405. 

Shelley,  422. 

Sheridan,  408,  412. 

Sheriffmuir,  battle  of,  378. 

Simnel,  Lambert,  215. 

Slave  trade,  53,  89,  375,  386,  426. 

Small  Dwellings  Acquisition  Act, 
453- 


500 


huh'.} 


X 


Society  of  Jesus,  246. 

Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  313. 

Solway  Moss,  battle  of,  235. 

Somers,  369. 

Somerset,  dukes  of,   197,    198,   237, 

238. 
Somerset,    Earl  of,   291. 
Sophia,   Electress  of  Hanover,  370. 
Soudan  insurrection,   445,  455. 
"South  Sea  Bubble,"  379. 
Spenser,  284. 

Stamford  Bridge,  battle  of,  67. 
Stamp  Act,   400;     repealed,   401. 
Stanhope,  37S,  381. 
Star  Chamber,  Court  cf,  216,  292, 

301.  303.  308. 

Statutes  of,  Mortmain,  133;  Quia 
Emptores,  133;  Winchester,  133; 
Wales,  136;  Prfemunire,  172; 
Provisors,  172;  of  Labourers,  181 ; 
against  Heretics,  189-191;  Main- 
tenance and   Livery,   206,   218. 

Steamboats,  472,  477,  478. 

Stephen,  77. 

Stephenson,  George,  478. 

Stoke,  battle  of,  215. 

Stourbridge  Fair,  113. 

Strafford,  Earl  cf.     See  Wentworth. 

Sunderland,   Earl  of,  349,  378. 

Swift,  Jonathan,  375,  380. 

Sydney,  Algernon,  347. 

Symington,  William,  477. 

Taxation,  the  right  of,  149;  first 
regular  levy  on  personal  property, 
109.     See  Finance. 

Ten  Articles,  232. 

Ten  Hours  Act,  476. 

Test  Act,  the,   256,   289,   341,  349, 

350.  444- 
Teutons,  28. 

Tewkesbury,  battle  cf,  201. 
Thegns,  3^,  52,  205. 
Theodore  of  Tarsus^  Archbishop,  36. 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  256,  2(o. 
Thirty  Years'  War,  294,  327,  356. 
Tinchebrai,  battle  of,  77. 
Tories,     346,     361;      the     "fourth 

party,"    445- 
Tower  of  London,  the,  71,  76. 
Townshend  import  duties,  401. 


Townshends,   the,   377. 
Towton  Field,  battle  of,  200. 
Trades  Union  Act,  475. 
Trafalgar,   battle  of,   415,   417. 
Transvaal      Republic,      445,     456, 

458. 
Trial  by  ordeal,  98. 
Triennial  Bill,  308,  370,  378. 
Triple  Alliance,  the,  340,  379. 
Troyes,   treaty  of,   193. 
Tyndale,  William,  228. 
Tyrconnel,  364. 
Tyrone,  Earl  of,  262,  302. 

"Ulster  Right,"  439- 

Union,  Act  of,  405  ;  of  England  and 

Scotland,  374. 
Unitarians,  364. 
Unity  of  Early  England,  the,  35-37; 

attainment    of    ecclesiastical,    35; 

postponement  of   political,   36. 
Utrecht,    treaty   of,    375,    378,    379, 

381,  405. 

Vandals,  28. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,  327,  ^;i;i. 

Vasco  da  Gama,  390. 

Versailles,  treaty  of,  405. 

Victoria,  Jubilee,  449 ;  Diamond 
Jubilee,  453;  Empress  of  India, 
442;    death  of,  457. 

Vienna,   Congress  of,  444. 

Vikings,  the,  38;  a  ship  of,  40; 
repulsed  by  Alfred,  43 ;  migrations 
of,  56;  settlements  of,  57;  in  Nor- 
mandy,   ^7-59;    in   England,  60- 

63-      '      ^ 
Villeins,  88,  122,  182.     See  Serfs. 
Virginia,  settlement  of,   295. 

Wages,  181,  207;  269,  355,  421,  474, 
475.  481,  485- 

Wakefield,  battle  of,  200. 

W'alcs,  industrial  and  physical  fea- 
tures, area,  7,  8;  conquered  by 
Ethelflaeda,  47;  conquest  of,  134; 
revolt  against  Edward  I,  139;  re- 
volt under  Glendower,  190;  insur- 
rection, 320;  Local  Government 
Act,  448,  452. 

Wales,  Statute  of,  136. 


Index 


501 


Wallace,  William,   143. 
Wallingford,    Treaty    of,     79,     95, 

109. 
Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  378,  379,  382, 

392,  400. 
Walter,    Hubert,    Archbishop,    io8, 

118. 
Wandevvash,  battle  of,  396. 
War  of  the  Austrian  succession,  390, 

392,  394- 
War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  371, 

39°- 

Warbeck,  Perkin,   215. 

Wars  of  the  Roses,  198;  political  re- 
volts, 202  ;  resultant  state  of  coun- 
try, 203. 

Warwick,  earls  of,  198,  200,  201, 
204,  239. 

Wat  Tyler,  182. 

Waterloo,  battle  of,  417. 

Watt,  James,  469,  477,  481. 

Wedmore,  Treaty  of,  41. 

Wellesley.     See  Wellington. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  412,  416,  423, 

425,  429,  437- 
Welsh,  31,  34,  37,  69,  97,  102,  119, 

134,  139.  143.  190,  320. 
Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  291,  298, 

301.  305.  306,  307. 
Wesley,  John,  386. 


Westminster  Altbey,  6g.  r 

Westmoreland,  Earl  of,  256. 

Wharton,  369. 

Whigs,  346,  361. 

Whitfield,  386. 

Whittington,  Sir  Richard,  209. 

Wiclif,  John,  173. 

Wilkes,   John,  394,  399. 

William  I,  69. 

William  II,  74. 

William  of  Orange,   341,  343,  351, 

353,  371- 
William  IV,  423. 
Winchester,  Statute  of,  133. 
Witan  or  Witenagemot,  62,  66,  72, 

73- 
Wolsey,  Thomas,  Cardinal,  222,  226, 

227,  229. 

Woodstock,  Council  of,  99. 

Worcester,  battle  of,  323. 

Wordsworth,  422. 

Workmen's   Compensation   for  Ac- 
cident Act,  453- 

Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  242. 

York,  dukes  of,  197,  198,  200,  342- 

343- 
Yorktown,   surrender  of,  405. 
Young,  Arthur,  483. 
Young  Patriots,  382,  395. 


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